Energy
by Sail the Ocean
Summary: It took her one day to realize her flaws, it will take her thirty to prove herself. It's funny how one little decision can change the entire story. (Rating may change, pairing may change.)
1. Change

_**Break Me**_

_**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**_

So this will be my first new fic in a really long time. I'm aware there is another fic out there like this one, I suppose you could say that my fic will be loosely based on that fic, at least… the beginning is in some ways. I'm not sure what it's called but when I figure it out I'll give all credit where credit is due. Sakura is a bit OOC, but only a little and I doubt you'll really notice. I'm a die-hard Sakura fan, but I really wished that after the Chunnin exams she would realize that she REALLY needed to work on her skills.

So without further Due, here it is.

_**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**_

**Chapter One; Change**

Soaked to the bone with water, stood Sakura, Little weak, defenseless Sakura, who was unable to fight off three genin level grass nin. Who needed the help of people who weren't even on her team, who didn't have the responsibility to care for her teammates, to fight for her. Whose only skill seemed to be holding a kunai and freezing up whenever she got scared.

She snorted, folding her knees up beneath her chin and glaring pointlessly at the sky. She was useless, now Sasuke had that- that thing on his neck and Naruto was hospitalized. She did nothing! Absolutely nothing! A loud whimper escaped her lips, her slender fingers digging into her choppy pink hair. The only useful thing she's done for her team since the chunnin exams started was identify that it was the second floor, not the third.

"Why am I so useless?" She asked herself, looking hopelessly at the ground before her. Even Kakashi didn't bother to train her; in fact, he pretty much told her genjutsu was all she would ever be good at. It was true… so she couldn't even be mad about it. She knew little to no ninjutsu, her taijutsu was sloppy and pretty much useless.

**Face it; we're a paper ninja… everything looked so much easier in the books. **The voice of her inner mind brought her back to reality and she raised her head to the sky, the sun was beginning to set. She closed her eyes and sucked in a slow breath, gathering the books and scrolls she had lying around her.

She needed to get home soon, her mom would worry.

She folded the books against her side and began her trudge to the civilian housing district of Konoha, where she and her mother lived together. Sakura always wondered why she looked nothing like her mother. Her mom was tall with short blonde hair, her dad had the pink hair… a pang in her chest kept her off that thought.

She faintly wandered what Sasuke and Naruto were doing right now. Kakashi-Sensei had taken Sasuke out to train and Naruto was probably still in the hospital. Guilt slowly spread through her chest, should she have gone to see him? He came to see her after her fight with Ino…

Closing her eyes she tried to push all of that back, she had a month to at least learn a new trick for the final part of the exam. She knew it was unfair that Sasuke got all of Kakashi-Sensei's attention, but didn't have the guts to say anything about it.

Her hand had unconsciously clenched into the spine of a book she had been carrying.

It was always about them… Naruto and Sasuke, that's all she ever seemed to hear. Naruto was going to be some big bad Hokage when he grew up, Sasuke was the last Uchiha. Yada yada yada. It wasn't fair! They always saved her, sometimes… she wished they would just let her get hit so that she didn't have to pretend she had no pride and thank them.

A tear escaped her eye as she reached the front door of her house, she wiped at it furiously, she didn't want her mom to see her like that. She pulled her sandals off at the door and quietly entered her house, she didn't want to wake her mom up in case she happened to be sleeping.

She set the books down on the coffee table in the small living room of their two-bedroom apartment, making her way to the small kitchen to see what they had to make dinner with. She knew she needed t go to the grocery store soon, but they had enough vegetables and a little meat to make an okay stew.

Sakura washed her hands and began peeling and cutting the vegetables, placing the diced foods into a pot of boiling water.

Once she was finished she put a lid over the simmering pot, and quickly hurried upstairs to jump in the shower, the stew should be ready once she was finished cleaning herself off and changing her clothes. As she peeled off the soaking red dress, she took the time to look over it, touching the fabrics, watching how they swayed and moved.

Why did she wear this? It was so restrictive, perhaps… perhaps she could go look at some more battle attire tomorrow. Only experienced ninja get the option to have setbacks like restrictive clothing… and long hair. She touched her short, choppy pastel locks. Ino hadn't done a very good job of evening them out, but she appreciated the effort nonetheless. Why did she grow out her hair anyway?

Why did she even think that was a good idea? She knew she would be going into battle at some point, well… not so soon, but still… she closed her eyes, sighing when she realized she _hadn't_ ever thought about it.

_I've never even tried to prepare myself for battle… when was the last time I trained without Kakashi-Sensei making me? _She wandered miserably to herself as she jumped into the cold waters of the shower, suppressing a shiver at the freezing water.

What the hell has she been doing all these years? She wandered to herself, washing the grime out of her short pastel locks, hurriedly washing her body and jumping out of the shower. It had always taken her a little over thirty minutes to shower, she now wandered why, it only took her five minutes or so to wash herself and her hair.

She dragged a hand over her face, Kami! Has she _always_ been this useless? She dried herself off quickly, wrapping the towel around her wet hair and heading to her faded, peeling dresser. She opened up her underwear drawer to find ridiculously stringy and lacy bras and underwear. What the hell did she need these for?

Growling, she shoveled the articles of clothing into her arms, tossing them to the floor, the next drawer was filled with ridiculous clothing, formal gowns, shorts, restrictive clothing, useless! She snarled as her eyes filled with tears, she searched through her clothing for something not utterly useless.

All of her clothing was now on the floor and she was panting heavily, eyes puffy red with tears as she was only able to find one thing suitable for a crappy ninja such as herself. A loose fitting black T-shirt, and grey three-quarter training pants.

She didn't take the time she normally would looking at herself in the mirror, to be honest, it really didn't matter anymore. She hurried to the kitchen to turn off the stove, relieved to realize the stew wasn't over-cooked, she quickly filled up two bowls, setting one down at the table, the other rested in her right hand as she made her way into her mothers room, wrapping gently on the door with her knuckle before opening it.

Her mother rested in the center of the room, a cloth that probably needed to be changed, hung over her forehead. She smiled weakly at her pink haired daughter, shakily propping herself up, Sakura hurried over to help her mother sit up, resting the bowl of stew on the nightstand, Sakura took the now warm cloth from her mothers forehead.

"Have you been taking your medicine?" Sakura questioned, ringing out the cloth and soaking it in a bowl of cold water, looking hopefully up at her mother, who gently touched her daughter's head.

"I liked your hair so much better long, it looks so much like your father's-"

"It was getting in the way," Sakura quickly cut her mother off, before inwardly cursing herself for being so rude, she plastered on a sweet smile and handed her mom the bowl of stew, her mother smiled sweetly back and took the bowl from her beloved daughter's hands.

"It looks delicious, sweetie." She smiled, breathing in the scent of the stew, "You're really becoming a good little cook." The blonde woman winked, before cupping a hand over her mouth to cough weakly into her hand, droplets of blood spilling from between her shaking hands.

Sakura quickly picked the bowl up from her mother's lap before it could spill and helped her mother lean back in the bed, "You should rest and I'll go get your medicine." Sakura smiled sweetly, turning on her heel, preparing to leave the room.

A hand curled around her wrist, she could have easily shaken it away, but she stood there, unable to look at her mother. She knew the tears would come if she did.

"Stay a little while, tell me about your missions." She coughed, smiling at her daughter with cloudy brown eyes, "You know how proud your father would be."

She bit down on her lip, willing the tears in her eyes not to spill as she turned and took her mother's hand, sitting down on the chair beside her bed, her voice echoing into the night as she told stories of missions and her teammates.

Lies and lies about how well she was doing as a ninja. She knew something had to change, and _soon_, or one day… Her mother would be left alone to fend for herself.

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"_**Chidori!" **_

Kakashi watched as Sasuke only gathered a small spark of chakra into his palm, and his visible charcoal eye narrowed. _So two is his limit…_ the copy nin pondered to himself. Barking at Sasuke to stand and try again, the youngest Uchiha made a running start at the Cliffside, a flash of sparks and chirps built up in his hand as he struck the rock, it cracked, but didn't tumble as Kakashi had hoped.

They had lots of work to do before the final part of the chunnin exams.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Naruto lay on the grassy earth, his chest burning, eyes drooping with the need to sleep, he panted heavily, looking at the dented trees all around him. His sky blue eyes burned with rage, he looked up to the treetops, to the flitters of moonlight streaming in.

"I'll do it… pervy sage… thirty days… and-and I'll master the rasengan!" He howled through vicious pants.

Hidden figures in the tree gave a wide smile, watching the blonde knucklehead stumble upwards and begin hitting chakra points in his hand all over again.

_I'm rooting for you, kid. _The toad sage thought to himself, crossing his arms and watching the blonde growl in frustration at failing the technique yet again.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Sakura stood once her mother had fallen asleep, replacing the rag over her mother's forehead and taking the empty bowls to the kitchen to wash, she put the remainder of the stew in the fridge before mopping the kitchen and doing some laundry, taking the clothing she deemed 'restrictive' and stuffing them into garbage bags. She'd be tossing them out in the morning with the garbage.

She found that she could not sleep, she didn't think she could. Ever since that incident at the chunnin exams… she couldn't think straight. Her dreams were haunted with the snake-man and the sound ninja who had attacked her. How in the world did she think she could take them on herself…

_Have I always been this oblivious? _She wandered to herself, wandering what made her wake up from her ignorance, but now that she thought about it, she's never been put into a life-or-death situation before, even with Zabuza and Haku, when they attacked, Naruto and Sasuke ran off to fight and she stood back with Tazuna.

She finally understood why Sasuke was so cruel to her, she could have gotten them all killed. She was endangering her entire team every day by being nearly useless. Her eyes watered again, but this time she didn't try to hide them, she dropped her hands into her face, and cried.

Long and hard. She felt so stupid! She'd been so cruel to Naruto, when all he ever did was protect a useless deadweight like herself and even sadder, it took almost losing her teammates to realize what a shitty ninja she was…

But could she really improve herself? Sasuke had the sharringan, Naruto had that red chakra… so how could she ever catch up to them? How could she? She didn't really know anyone who could teach her anything, besides people who already had teams.

She didn't even need an edge; she needed to be taught everything. She snarled, banging her fist on the ground. It wasn't fair! Her sensei was off teaching one student! Leaving her and Naruto to fend for themselves!

Her fist then clenched, her teeth grit and she stood.

Looks like if nobody was going to train her, she would have to train herself.


	2. Deal with the Devil

_**Push My Limits**_

_**I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**_

So this is going to be where the story takes one of my super-charged turns. If you haven't noticed, I enjoy giving Sakura really cool back stories and power-ups, if you've read some of my work you'll understand that I like to clash Sakura's innocent personality with dark charge ups. So if you aren't into that sort of thing feel free to leave. If you're into it, keep reading, because this is going to be a cool one.

Leave me some reviews and show some love for this super long chapter.

…

**Chapter Two; a Deal with the Devil**

Sakura stood at the end of the hallway… the door before her was a closet. A simple closet that caused her more pain than anything she could ever imagine. She gripped the silver key tightly in her hand, her heart ached painfully.

Leaning forward, she pressed the key into the lock, seconds ticked by like minutes as a loud click echoed through the empty hallway, causing her heart to beat faster, she gripped the handle, closing her eyes and inhaling a calming breath, she needed to do this. She was going to overcome her fears, how could she ever get stronger with this hanging on her shoulders?

She pulled the door open, with probably more force than necessary, it hit the wall beside it with a loud thud and Sakura turned to assure herself that her mother had not woken up at the sound, ears perking up as she listened intently for any sounds of stirring, when no sounds followed her jade eyes flickered to the now open closet.

Cardboard boxes covered in a thick sheen of grey dust stared back at her; she ran the pad of her thumb over one, looking down at the black smudge it had caused. She pulled the closest box in her reach to her chest, placing it down on the floor before her, pulling a kunai from the pouch on her hip to slice through the heavy boxing tape, the sealing was sloppy and forceful, she remembered boxing up these things.

She pulled a long katana from the dusty belongings, smiling and running her fingers along the sheath, embroidered with small leafs. Her heart hung heavy as she slipped the sheath off, touching the edge of the sword, a bead of crimson slipped from her fingers.

It was razor-sharp, just as her father had boasted when she was a child. She sheathed the blade and strapped it to her hip, just as her father had worn it. The next item she found was a small box, containing her father's ankle weights. She sucked in a sharp breath; they were heavy, fifty pounds each, she struggled to pick them up as she strapped them to her ankles. She was going to carry the weight her father did. Her calves screamed at the strain, but she did not complain as her steely eyes searched through the box; there was one last thing she had to get.

A small box, wrapped lovingly with green wrapping paper, a gift her father had given her before… that day. She cradled it to her chest lovingly; it was as if she could see her father wrapping this with care, smiling as he thought of her opening it and thinking of him.

She tugged at the paper gently with a fingernail, she was in no rush. It slipped off after a few minutes and she carefully opened the box within.

A scroll… and a letter. She recognized the scroll, it was one her father had carried with him always, the Haruno emblem resided on its surface. She remembered how cautious her father was of it, how secretive he was of it. Whenever she had asked he would sigh, telling her 'Sakura, I hope you never have to find out.'

She placed the scroll aside and reached for the letter, it was folded and yellowing with age; she gently unfolded it, feeling as though it would turn to ash in her hands if she wasn't careful.

Written in her father's scratchy handwriting, was a letter to his beloved daughter, her.

_Sakura, _

_I think you're ready to finally understand the depth of our family. _

_We Haruno aren't a very famous or vast clan, in fact, you and I may be the last true Haruno, but I assure you, our namesake doesn't go unknown. I can't tell you very much of our clan, or the curse that comes with it. You'll have to learn of that on your own, one day you'll truly understand your power. The mission I'm about to go on will be very challenging and I'm not sure if I'll come back… _

Sakura's hands gripped the paper tighter, tears gathering in her eyes as she read on,

_This scroll is one of the oldest and most sacred Haruno relics, I plead you not open it, not until you learn more of our family… not until you learn of what's inside it. Then you can make the choice to use it or not, I made the choice not to, but every Haruno must have the choice. It is our heritage. Sakura, this scroll is not a toy, it is dangerous, taboo to even know of. You mustn't let anyone know you have it. What you do with it is your choice. Remember, you're going to be a leaf shinobi someday; you carry the will of fire in you. _

_If you let it burn too hot, you'll only turn to ash, but if you control it, you control your fate. _

_Make your mother and me proud, we love you so much. _

_Good luck, Sakura. _

Her tears dripped heavily onto the paper, leaving small circles on its surface. She clutched the paper desperately, her shoulders shaking as small sobs rocked through her, with shaking hands, she reached for the scroll.

It was closed with a silver chain, she carefully unraveled it, rolling the scroll open, coughing as a puff of dust spilled from inside the age-worn scroll. Her brows pulled together in confusion, it was blank…. Her heart jumped as she saw a smear of crimson at the edge of the scroll…

She bit her lip in curiosity, bringing the pad of her thumb to her plump lips, biting into the flesh, numb to any feeling due to the inner distress she was feeling, the coppery taste of blood touched her tongue and she hesitantly swiped her thumb along the edge of the scroll.

She was thrown backwards, her eyes widened in pain as she was slammed against the wall, knocking the breath from her lungs; she hacked and coughed, desperately trying to keep the contents of her stomach. She scrambled on her knees to the scroll, it was glowing with an intense white light, it burned her eyes, she was scared, terrified.

She thought that if she closed it, maybe it would stop whatever the hell was happening…

She was _wrong._

Chains, heavy steel chains as hot as fire lashed from the scroll, Sakura screamed, but she somehow knew that it fell on deaf ears, the chains gripped around her small wrists, the stench of burning flesh filled the air around her and she shook violently, the pain was unimaginable, the chains were pulling her forward, desperately, trying to drag her to the scroll, a powerful wind was erupting from the scroll, knocking framed pictures off the wall, boxes from the closet, they were being drawn into the scroll, it was trying to consume her.

She dug her ankles into the floor, desperately trying to pull away, but the pain made her weak, she wanted to fall to her knees and cry, she imagined that if she wasn't wearing her father's weights she would have already been sucked in.

A door opened.

Sakura's heart leapt, "**No**! Mom! It's not safe!" She cried, her words coming out rapid and desperate, but her mother didn't look scared, she looked determined, she looked… she was coming forward, weakly, slowly, her legs trembled.

Sakura cried out as she yanked forcefully on the chains, screaming and thrashing, her mom would be consumed by the scroll. She'd never survive. Sakura has already lost her father; she couldn't lose her mother too-

Her mom was coming closer, faster, Sakura was nearly out of strength and regardless of the leg weights, she was slowly being dragged forward, she could see the black abyss coming from the scroll now, she was certainly going to die. Her father told her how dangerous this was- she should have known better, she was a fool.

"I'm sorry." A sad, soft whisper came from behind her, Sakura turned to see the teary chestnut eyes of her mother, but could do nothing as her mother shoved her backwards.

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction as she fell, she had fallen through the black hole, it was closing before her eyes, her mother was looking down at her, Sakura numbly reached a hand toward her as she fell, disappearing deeper into the blackness, until she could no longer see her mother.

…**.**

Hana watched her daughter fall, her eyes filled with tears.

She had no idea what she had just done, she knew she could have just done something horrible, but it was her husbands last wish, that if Sakura were to ever open the scroll, to make sure she didn't fight it, it could cost her the life of her daughter.

She hopes she made the right choice and that her daughter was prepared for whatever was on the other side.

…**..**

Sakura screamed as she fell, not because of the falling, no, the chains had crossed over her chest, burning her flesh, she thrashed, trying to grab for them, they weren't searing her chest, only the flesh of her back, she could feel the pooling blood pouring down her shoulders and the small of her back, dribbling down her legs.

She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth and twisting through the air, losing the contents of her stomach as the airy falling sensation hit her, she saw something ahead, it looked like a wall of glass, her teary eyes widened in fear as she braced herself to hit it.

She smashed through the wall of glass, a beam of crimson light glowed behind her, but she didn't get the chance to hit it as she hit a hard, rock-like surface, gagging loudly, once again vomiting, she shakily pulled herself up, screaming as the chains around her tightened, a sickening wet crack sounded and she dropped to her knees, desperately yanking at the cooled chains over her chest, they lit up with heat and seared into the flesh of her hands, she screamed at the sensation of fire over her chest and the burning on her hands, once they were pulled away the burning over her chest ceased, but continued twice as hot on her back.

She endured the searing pain as she once again pulled herself up, a large silver door appeared seemingly out of no where, Sakura stepped back, terrified of what may lie behind it, they looked as if to be the gates of hell, covered in strange symbols of a language she didn't know. An ear-splitting screech filled the emptiness as it opened, it was blackness, slowly eyes began appearing, as if opening to look at her with terrified, pained looks that tore a scream from her throat.

She was too terrified to move as long, shadow-like arms stretched inhumanly from within the door, from the nothingness, the eyes widened more as she was pulled forward, she didn't have the strength to resist it anymore, whatever was happening couldn't be real, why would her father leave her something like this? Her thoughts were cut off as the chains tightened more over her body, she coughed and gasped for breath, they were crushing her lungs.

She could hear the door closing behind her, but could do nothing to stop it, it closed slowly, as if giving her the chance to run, knowing she could not, mocking her. It closed as she was in blackness, visions began flashing, but not before her eyes, they were in her head… as if memories, information was being stored in her, her eyes widened at the blackness before her, it felt like she were a blank scroll and information was being scribbled into her mind, her head ached violently but the pain went unnoticed, whatever was going on- it overpowered the insanity around her, the chains constricted once more, but it hurt less than the last time, Sakura briefly wandered if it was the adrenaline pushing past her pain, her heartbeat sounded in her ears.

It felt like days had passed before the visions had stopped and she was forced back to reality- or whatever it was that she was trapped in. Maybe a genjustu, she couldn't think of any other way to describe what had just happened to her, her skin felt as if it were hanging off her in ribbons, in fact, she knew the skin of her back and wrists were, black spots filled her line of vision from blood loss, her bones ached and her legs were shaking, with the urge to give up, but something in her forced her to remain standing.

Sakura's mental state was weak, what she had just seen… it changed her entire perspective. She felt like she knew everything, every secret ever hidden, she looked down to her hands, to the red-hot chains gripping them with desperation, she yanked forward, the chains lit up, but the flames did not sear her, what was pain? Why did it hurt? Pain could easily be turned to strength, her mind was stronger than her pain, so what was the point of allowing herself to feel it? She didn't have to.

No one had to, they chose to feel pain.

A slow clapping sound came from behind her, but her fear had been tightly wrapped away, she listened to it coming closer, until icy breath rustled the hair beside her head. It was a creature, more terrifying than she had ever seen, a black as night creature, it's eyes wrapped tightly with bandages, brown with dried blood, it's mouth covered most of it's face, full of yellow teeth, way more than any human could ever have, it adorned no clothing, it's long arms nearly touched the ground. Chains weaved in and out of its skin-and-bone body, as if going straight through it. Sakura was sure this was a demon, but did not tremble in its presence.

"greedy little bastard," it chuckled, it's rancid breath forcing her to turn her head.

It slowly wrapped around her, inhaling her scent deeply, like a dog would, it leaned back, inhaling a long breath before grinning at her with those disgusting, yellow teeth. "a Haruno." It said, its voice distorted, as if speaking with multiple different voices at once.

"Where am I?" Sakura spoke, her voice breathless, she felt seconds away from collapsing, but now she knew that it was impossible, wherever she was, it was impossible here. There was nothing to do but endure.

"I don't know." The creature retorted, unaffected by her question. "Why have you come here?" It questioned, cocking its head to the side, even if the creature's eyes were hidden, she could feel it staring at her, boring holes into her body.

"I don't know… I was pulled in by a scroll." Sakura answered truthfully. She wanted to feel fear, she wanted to scream, to thrash, to pull away, but like her pain, her mind had locked it away, she had no more control. After what she had just seen, just learned, she felt as though this creature wasn't even worth being scared of.

The creature gave a hacking cough, before pulling one of it's long arms upwards, bringing it's long fingers to it's mouth, chewing on the broken nails and into the flesh, continuing to tear at the flesh with it's teeth, before chewing it and swallowing the disgusting globs of it's own skin, "so hungry." It grumbled, its mouth grimacing as if disappointed.

Her eyes scanned the fingers of its other hand, noticing they were merely stubs down to the knuckle, it had eaten the rest.

"little human, do you like games?" It questioned, Sakura was taken back by its question, what was this creature going on about?

She chewed her lip, deciding it best to comply, "Sometimes… do you?" She questioned, carefully. This… thing could be her way out of the hell she seemed to be trapped in. Something in her mind told her she was lying to herself, but she didn't want to accept it.

The creature dropped to all fours, scrambling off, her heard raced, "Hey! Where are you going?!" She screamed, the fear had made a grand appearance, along with the pain, she dry heaved, having nothing more to vomit. The chains burned her sore flesh with an angry fury, as if furious that they had been forgotten.

_**It felt like days had passed… or maybe hours. She had no way of knowing. **_

She had dropped to her knees when the pain had become unbearable, her body couldn't take this anymore. She was certain she should be dead now, she was certain that the chains had burned down into her bones; the flesh on her wrists was blackening and beginning to peel away from bone. Her breath came out in desperate gasps for air, all thoughts were gone as her vision went in and out, every time she felt as if she were slipping away, the chains would ignite with more fire, the levels of pain she was feeling should have put her in shock, but she knew better.

Thoughts came in and out, she couldn't process anything anymore, the pain had broken her away from that. Her thirst was unimaginable, she tried to drink the endless blood flowing from her veins, but simply vomited it back up, as if her body was fighting any way to ease her pain, her mouth was dry, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, her lips were stuck together with blood, whenever she cried out, they would tear apart, Sakura broke down and cried constantly, she wanted to go home, anything but this, she wanted to die. Death sounded so comforting, so easing.

A dragging sound came from all around her, Sakura's heart raced and her breath became more hectic, she was beginning to hyperventilate, screams were torn from her throat only to be turned into bloody, gurgling coughs as various sets of teeth dug into her, creatures looking like the first she had encountered, only skinnier and mangled were gnawing at her flesh, trying to consume her.

She fought it for a while, but her body was useless, her motor skills were nearly gone, she could do nothing to fight back but scream, the salty taste of her tears touched her torn lips and she screamed at the burning that came after, one of the creatures pulled a chunk of flesh from her side, the others scratched at her clothing, trying to move it to get to the flesh below.

She whimpered and just hoped that this would kill her, her hands clenched tightly, her fingernails breaking into her palms, she cried out and weakly thrashed. Blood spilled from her mouth; she gagged and choked on it. She was in hell, she was sure of it now, there was no other way to explain this.

She closed her eyes, "Kami! Just kill me now! I beg you!" She sobbed violently; the creatures paid her no mind, and continued to feast on her flesh.

Her eyes closed slowly, time seemed to slow, pain began to recede, even as the creatures ate her, even as the chains lit up with intense heat, hotter than ever before, Sakura had nothing left. She had given up.

As she closed her eyes, her mind forced her somewhere else.

An unseen light glowed from within her chest, a resilient blue, an orb glowed from within the girl, brilliant wings outstretched, her very soul was showing, her life force.

_**The girl did not notice the milestone she had just passed, the ten days in hell. **_

She could feel something beneath her, cool and moist, she couldn't be sure of what it was, she flexed her fingers, only to cry out in pain as her wrists burned intensely, she was laying somewhere grassy, the chains no longer on her wrists

Her eyes opened slowly, hazily, black spots blurred her vision, she was forced to turn her head to the side as sunlight burned her eyes, which had adjusted to the intense dark. She felt the sunlight on her bare skin, her clothing had been shredded. How could she possibly forget?

Was she dead? Had Kami heard her plea for death?

She tried to pull herself up and managed to weakly get to her knees before miserably hacking up specks of dried blood. If she were dead shouldn't her wounds have been healed? She looked to the sky, her eyes watering at the amount of light, but gasping as she saw what resided there. Three large moons, so close they looked just past the horizon. She was in a grassy clearing, thick forestry surrounded her.

She weakly pulled herself to her feet, flinching as the chains on her back seared into her shoulder bones, one of her arms hung limply as her flesh was covered with open bite marks, she was missing large chunks of muscle, some bits of flesh hung off her skin, sometimes in small strips, some in large fist-sized clumps, she gagged at the sight. Blood dripped down her arms and legs.

She turned slowly, stumbling, her Achilles tenant had been bitten through and her left leg was nearly useless anyway. She didn't have the strength in her to gasp at the sight before her, a stairway, it looked to be leading straight into the heavens, she gave a bitter smile. "Kami is mocking me." She rasped, her legs trembling before she fell to her knees.

"Sakura-chan! Hey!"

Sakura's head whipped to the side, greeted by a familiar sight she couldn't hold back her gasp- sunshine colored hair, sky blue eyes, she outstretched a hand to her teammate but he simply stood beside her, smiling down at her with sad blue eyes, he outstretched his hand, but it simply swiped through hers, he was like a ghost.

Sakura felt hopeless, a sob escaped her lips as she looked at Naruto "Why?"

Naruto kneeled beside her, "Sorry, can't help you here Sakura-Chan." He frowned, looking up the staircase with sad eyes, "Looks like you need to get to the top." He said, looking back to the broken girl.

"What are you? A ghost?" She coughed, sucking back her tears and standing on wobbly legs, numbly stumbling toward the stairs, they were much bigger than they looked, she would have to pull herself up just to get onto one, she reached her arms upwards with a loud cry, gritting her teeth to yank herself up, once she was able to prop an elbow over the first step to pull the rest of herself up, the chains ceased their burning, instead they felt as if they'd gained weight, far more than what she herself weighed, she cried out loudly as she forced her broken and bleeding body forward before crashing onto the first step, panting heavily as her tender bones were being crushed by the weight of the chains.

A grunt came from below her followed by a thudding noise, Sakura peered upwards to see Naruto standing over her, hands on his hips as he looked down to the pinkette, "Come on Sakura-Chan, only a few more to go!" He grinned.

A wad of blood was coughed from her pale lips, "A few thousand." She remarked sarcastically. She tried to stand, only for the weight of the chains to pull her back to the stone step, she cried out once more as her broken body was crushed beneath the silver chains, it felt like they were getting heavier by the second.

"They are." Naruto said, as if reading her mind. "So you'd better get moving or you'll never get there." He said with his trademark grin.

Sakura's eyes filled with frustrated tears, "Don't you get it!? I'm too wounded to do this, Naruto. I'm not like you… or… Sasu-ke…" She slowly said, her eyes widening in realization… she wasn't like them, what was she thinking opening her father's scroll? She didn't stand a chance, she would never stand a chance, she couldn't have possibly thought that she had something special like them? No, she was simply Sakura Haruno.

She slowly began to rise on trembling legs, gritting her teeth gritting as the chains dug into her wounds, she gripped the edge of the next step, "I'm not like you and Sasuke. I'm like… my father." She screamed out, the pain was set aside as she pulled herself up step after step, the chains getting heavier and heavier, Naruto was easily keeping pace with her.

By the fifteenth step she was crying, panting heavily, her body hunched as the weight of the chains on her back rapidly became heavier. Her heels dug into the step below her, the dragging chains leaving scratch marks on the rocky surface.

"You will never get out of our shadow like that." A taunting voice came from beside her, the sun was beginning to set and one of the moons to rise, she was aware she wasn't even moving at one third of her regular speed, she knew hours had passed for her to get to where she was, which wasn't even a fraction of the journey ahead.

Her vision faded in and out, a pool of blood trailed behind her, but she kept going, she couldn't stop now. Her father wouldn't have stopped- no, he would have pushed forward even in death.

"_An enemy can take your strength, but not your will to fight." _

Her father's words egged her on as she climbed, the sun was now gone and the first moon high in the sky, the other two seemed reluctant to rise, but she didn't care to ask why. Naruto was now slowly walking beside her as she clumsily pulled herself up the steps, they were getting taller, longer, she'd have to take a running start to get to some, eventually she couldn't run, she couldn't tap into any of her chakra either, so she'd have to grab jagged edges of the rock and climb to the top of each step, they dug into her already wounded hands, causing her to cry out harder, but even through the violent tears, she pushed on. Even if she knew she was going no where, she had to reach the top.

The sun was rising now and she was lying in a panting heap, the sound of rushing water in her ears drowned out Naruto's voice, she was dehydrated beyond imagination, she was wounded far worse than she had ever been and she was nearly certain that the weight on her shoulders was more than a mountain.

Naruto's form began to flicker and he looked down at the pinkette with hopeless eyes, she just stared back at him with an empty expression, her chest slowly rising and falling, she couldn't breathe, the chains were crushing her chest. She knew she couldn't fight much longer.

Strong hands gripped her forearms, pulling her up, her eyes widened as she turned to see Sasuke, standing beside her, his expression cold and angry as he looked to her, "Tch. Annoying." He hissed, releasing his grip of her arms, she cried out as she was forced to stand on her own, but she stayed standing.

She stared in disbelief of Sasuke, "A-are you really here? Are both of you real?" She panted, clutching her side as blood spilled from between her fingers, not bothered by her exposed form.

"No." Sasuke said firmly, turning to look up at the vast amount of steps before them. "We'd better hurry, you don't have long, look." He said, motioning with his head to the second moon, which was slowly inching upwards, "You have until the third moon." He said.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?" Sakura coughed, angry that Sasuke was still a jerk even if he wasn't real and confused as to why Naruto looked so angry.

"Doesn't matter." Sasuke sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets, turning away from the girl. Sakura snapped, her anger boiled over and she did something no one would have ever imagined she'd do, she lunged for Sasuke, her fist raised in anger.

He easily caught her attack with a smirk, "too weak."

She snarled loudly, "Fuck you!" she cried, tears welling up once more as her chest heaved with angry breaths, she saw red, her hands flexed and adrenaline boiled through her like fire. She gripped a jutting rock from the edge of the step, and began to climb, one step at a time, the steps grew taller, but she didn't stop, the chains grew heavier, but she kept going.

The sun rose and fell, the third moon was nearly at a peak and Sakura could see the top of the steps, her legs were shaking so bad she tripped and fell over them, her arms were shaking violently, she fell from one of the jutting rocks only to catch herself on another, her hands weren't visible underneath the pooling blood pouring from them, she's counting how many times the sun has risen and fallen, it's been ten days.

She couldn't imagine how many steps she's climbed, how dehydrated or hungry she was, her throat and lungs burned, her eyes were swollen and she was delirious from lack of sleep, she didn't know where she was going, but every time she stopped Naruto and Sasuke pushed her forward. Sasuke's harsh words fueled her determination and Naruto's desperate encouragement kept her sane.

She pulled herself over the last step and a bitter smile touched her lips as she crashed to the ground, smoke rose from around her as the immensely heavy chains crashed around her. It was simply the top of a cliff, overseeing the village.

"Good job, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto cheered, she couldn't see him, but she knew he was grinning that special grin he always did. A second set of footsteps sounded, she knew it was Sasuke; he was standing over her, "Hn. Not as weak as I thought."

She smiled, if that would have been the real Sasuke that would defiantly be the kind of compliment he'd give. Her body was useless; she doubted she could ever stand again. Her shoulder bones have been crushed by the weight of the chains, her hands are most certainly festering with infection by now.

She felt two hands touch her shoulders softly, the touch oddly lightened the pain, barely at all, but they did.

"Sleep, Sakura-Chan. You've earned it."

"Hn."

Her world cut to back as a small smile touched her lips.

_**The second milestone, climbing the heavens. **_

She awakened again… She was laying on something hard and cold, but her body no longer ached, the chains were as light as air, she looked down at herself, she was bare, but all her wounds healed perfectly. She thirsted and hungered for nothing and as she stood, she realized that not a single speck of pain touched her.

She felt better than she had before being sucked into this hell.

She looked around with curious green eyes; the world looked differently to her now. She moved so quickly, not even intending to, everything looked colder after the truth she had learned when she first arrived. She felt as if she were a different person wearing Sakura Haruno like a suit.

The room around her was decedent, the floors and walls a polished white stone, covered in paintings of beautiful women, flowing red curtains covered windows. Not a speck of dust or dirt was in sight. A trail of colorful flower petals lead from the room and fearlessly, Sakura followed.

The further she went the more convinced she was that she was in some sort of palace by the ocean, you could hear the waves beating against the shore, the cry of seagulls. The palace was warm and breezy; it felt nice on her bear skin. It seemed to be growing more lavish as she followed the trail.

It ended in a dining hall, a stretch of table surrounded with neatly placed chairs stared back at her, the table was covered in different flowers, severed from the stem, a red substance dripped from them, staining the petals, dripping to the floor.

The smell of rotting flesh touched her nose and Sakura hastily covered her nose as the smell became more and more overwhelming. It was horrid. Steady footsteps followed as the smell became stronger and stronger until someone entered the dining hall, Sakura gagged at the sight.

It was a human- well, it was made of humans. A man, from what she could tell, with different patches of skin sloppily sewn on to the face, one bright blue eye, the other simply a socket. Two different arms of different color and size, the legs were hidden with a pair of slacks, but she could already tell that they weren't of the same length, as the man hobbled on a cane, his chest was bear, sewn over with black thread, showing multiple different patches of flesh, some green with rot.

"Hello, lovely human." The man smiled, the action showing rows of discolored and mangled teeth.

"Hello." Sakura responded slowly, stepping forward, pushing back the urge to vomit as the scent got stronger. "Who are you?"

The makeshift-man laughed heartily, as if she'd just told a very funny joke. "Oh my! Feisty, I must say, I'll enjoy making a deal with you, your eyes are certainly unique." He said, turning his head to stare intently at her eyes.

"A deal?" Sakura questioned, her brows furrowing together. Her heart thudded slightly at the compliment about her eyes; it had an almost ominous tone to it. It didn't feel right.

The man smiled wider, "You came here because of the scroll, right?"

She swallowed, her mouth feeling dry, an odd sense of fear creeping into her, "Yes, I did." She answered slowly, feeling as if she should have headed her father's warning. She has made a terrible decision, she wasn't ready. Why would her father give her something like this? It feels like she's been in this strange place for an eternity.

"Then you've come to make a deal. It's the only way out of this place." The man smirked at her horrified expression, "Oh come now, I'm quite fair. I only ask one thing of all seeking a deal." He said, sitting down at the head of the table.

Sakura's fingernails scraped against the table as her grip tightened, "And what would that be?" She questioned dryly. What would she give to escape this world? Her soul?

The man smirked and tapped the area beneath his eyeless socket, "Your eye, in exchange for mine."

"W-what?" She gasped, stumbling backwards; she quickly caught herself, her head spinning. What use did he have of her eye? Completing his sick body suit?

"Yes, that's all I want. I'm so generous." He sighed dreamily, "and in return, you get mine. I assure you, this will be the greatest deal I've ever made. My eyes are the prize of this world. Many people seek them, but your eyes are so lovely it'll surely be worth it."

"W-why would you want my eye? If you have your own why do you want mine!"

"You see, I wish to be human. I find them so lovely, soft skin, such amazing creatures, creatures of beauty." He smiled widely, motioning to his sewn together flesh, "Aren't I just lovely?"

"So if I give you my eye… I'll return home?" She questioned, ignoring his statement before, could she even go home? They'd notice how differently she acts, and a missing eye would surely arouse suspicion.

"With the immense power of one of my eyes, yes." The man sighed, swirling a bleeding rose in his mismatched fingers casually. Sakura chewed her lower lip in thought; she wanted nothing more than to leave this hell, but…

"Unless you'd like to stay-"

"I'll do it." She answered quickly, making up her mind, she wanted out of here. She wanted to see her mother; she wanted to make her parents proud. A single eye was surely worth that. Hell, she'd give an arm or leg.

"Oh? Excellent." The man said, moving in a blur to appear before her, "Follow me, lovely human." He grinned, the stench becoming overpowering as she bit her tongue to choke back the gags that nearly escaped her lips.

She followed behind him through winding corridors, down deeper and deeper into this… thing's palace. The corridors became less lavish, it looked more and more like a dungeon than a palace. They stopped before a large steel door; the man pushed the door open with a wide, disgusting grin. Sakura sucked in a steady breath, she forced her legs to push forward and the chains were growing lighter by the second. She'd almost forgotten they were there, or that she was in a complete state of undress.

A large steel table rested in the middle of the room. That was it. The man followed in behind me and the steel door slammed behind him, an ominous weight pulled at Sakura, not the chains, something different, something heavier.

"Lay down please." He said, turning to open a cabinet that she hadn't noticed before, as she cautiously lay on the cool table with a slight flinch at the feel of its icy chill on her bare skin, she watched him spin around, a jar cradled lovingly in his mismatched hands as he neared her.

He set the jar beside her head and her nose instinctively crinkled at the smell of preservation fluid, bitter and pungent. She'd become used to the stench of rotting corpse but the sawn together man was a whole different smell, it was a smell that made her heart beat a bit faster, her palms sweaty, her legs shake with the urge to run.

But she remained, watching him hum and happily dig through his pockets for something. She peered into the jar that rested beside her head, she supposed this was where the eye was being held, yet she could not see into it, the preservation liquid was some sort of black tar-like substance that kept the contents of the jar a mystery.

The man's fingers held her left eye open, her heart was racing a million miles an hour by now, her teeth clenched and she felt as though time was passing in slow-motion as the scalpel he was now holding neared her.

He began slicing at the lower half of her eye, she screamed and tried to thrash, but the chains held her down with an immense strength she'd never imagined.

Blood spewed as he continued to slice at her eyes, wearing a maniac grin as she cried harder, she couldn't see anymore, she'd bitten her tongue, now blood flew from her lips and gagged her as it flowed to the back of her throat, she begged him to stop, but it was too late.

She'd already agreed to this.

He was holding her eye now, holding it up to the light as if examining a precious diamond, he popped it into his empty eye socket and it rolled a second, adjusting, before settling. Sakura's breathing was simply gurgling sputtering coughs, she was still screaming, she was certain the back of her throat was going to rip.

He pulled something from the jar, it was an eye, untouched by the black tar somehow. She couldn't see it, blood and tears obscured the vision in her remaining eye, her world was quickly spinning to black.

"Be careful, lovely human, this power may kill you."

Before she could even try to respond, to scream, anything, her world went black.


	3. Double Vision

_**Blind Me**_

So I see that some people are still reading, good, good. I'm very happy all of you have decided to stay. Thank you for the new reviews, I enjoyed reading them very much. I know we've already dove into the story quite quickly, at least into the plot, but I'm not going to make one of those lame stories that end before shippuden, no, I want to make a story of this, walking aside the original story, well_.. Not exactly_, but close. Be prepared for Sakura's OOCness to start diving forward.

Leave a review for me please and enjoy. Criticism and ideas are already welcome.

…

**Chapter Three; Double Vision**

It was like some had dumped a bucket of ice water on her and she woke to a start, chest heaving violently as she frantically scanned her surroundings, looking for strange monsters and odd skies, that which she had seen through the scroll, yet was shocked to find herself in her same old shabby bedroom in her same old shabby nightwear.

_Could it all have been… a dream? _She thought to herself. Reaching up to touch her left eye, she hissed at the pain of touching the heavily bandaged part of her face. So it hadn't been a dream, but who had brought her to bed? _Who bandaged her eye? _

Her question was answered as her bedroom door slowly opened, instantly she was alert, ready to defend herself and her mother if need be- "Mom?" She questioned dumbly, seeming to startle the weak woman standing in the doorway.

"Oh, you're awake!" The woman exclaimed with a weak smile.

Confused, Sakura eyed the bowl of water in her mothers hands, the woman seemed to notice her curiosity and smiled, holding up a damp rag, "I thought I should change it, you were running a fever." Her mother smiled softly, taking a seat at the foot of Sakura's bed. Urging her daughter to lie back, before placing a cool rag over her forehead. The pinkette was too confused to protest.

"Are you sure you should be moving around like this?" Sakura questioned, her throat feeling like sandpaper. As if reading her mind, her mother grabbed a glass of water from Sakura's nightstand; Sakura drank it greedily, wanting more when she was done but afraid to ask her sickly mother to go fetch it for her.

"I'm fine." Hana smiled, tucking one of Sakura's short locks behind her ear, "I loved your hair the way it was… but you still look beautiful." The woman said, her face becoming grim as if lost in thought. Sakura's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, but as she pulled one of her choppy locks into eye view, she couldn't hold back the gasp, it was silver, the only think keeping her to her former self was the soft pink hue to it's now lifeless look.

Her visible eye teared up as she examined more of herself, her chest heaving with confusion and fear. She was white as paper, her left arm and right leg covered completely with odd black spiral-like markings. She looked up to her mother with terrified eyes, but found that her mother was staring at the floor, little droplet sounds echoed through the soundless room, her mother's tears were hitting the wooden floor.

"I didn't want this- but- but your father said-"Hana broke off with a sob, her hands covering her face as her shoulders shook with tears. She couldn't find the words to explain what she'd done to her daughter. She felt like less of a mother and more of a monster.

Sakura sobbed in silence with her mother, confused and aching with the regret of opening that damned scroll. She'd made a fools mistake and for what? Nothing… She's gained nothing but mental scars that would haunt her for the rest of her life. She couldn't blame her mother, even if she so desperately wanted to… the only one to blame for her changed appearance and marred limbs… was herself, for her stupidity and desperation to catch up with her teammates, she just… she just wanted out of their shadows, but she never wanted this.

She just wished she could take it all back.

"It's okay mom… I- I understand." Sakura whispered hoarsely, wiping her puffy eye and slowly getting out of bed to wrap her skinny arms around her mother. She didn't realize how deathly thin she had become.

"You were gone for so long; I was scared you weren't coming back…" Hana sobbed into her daughter's cotton nightshirt, dampening the fabrics, "When you came back a few days ago… I- I tried everything to get you to wake up…" She sniffled, shaking violently in her daughter's embrace.

"Its okay mom, I promise." Sakura tried to smile, but it slipped as she looked down to her mothers pale and broken form, her body moved on instinct and Sakura pressed a glowing green hand to her mother's chest, closing her eyes and focusing on healing what she could find as she pulsed her chakra through her mother's diseased system.

The only possible way she could describe how she had miraculously learned medical Ninjutsu without any prior knowledge or practice was the overload of information that had been burned into her brain prior to being trapped in the other world. Jutsu, techniques, everything she could ever need to know, was there.

But Kami she wished it wasn't.

She chewed the inside of her cheek as she pulled away from her mother, seeing the shocked expression in her chestnut colored eyes. Sakura turned away, unable to look at her mother any longer. Her world was spinning desperately out of control. And all because of one scroll, a stretch of parchment had destroyed her life.

"I need to shower and think about some things… okay?" Sakura whispered, biting the inner lining of her lip to keep from whimpering, "I'll make dinner soon, you should lie down." She said, feigning optimism and offering her mother a soft smile before disappearing down the hall and into the bathroom, leaving a dumbstruck Hana to watch her go.

…

She scrubbed violently at her arm, trying to get the markings to go away, the unmarked skin was turning a burning pink and the flesh was starting to swell and bleed from her harsh scrubbing. Tears slipped freely down her face, the bandage over her eye sagging from the scalding water soaking into it.

She slowly slid to her knees, holding them against her chest and silently whimpering, hoping her mother couldn't hear her. Sakura had lost so much weight wile in the other world, all of her ribs were now visible and she felt as though she would snap if she bent too far.

The frightening tattoo-like markings on her arm and leg frightened her; she didn't have the stomach to even _look_ at her eye. Her skin was cadaver white as if any human pigmentation had been drained from her skin, her hair complete silver with nearly no visible traces of its former vibrant pink unless she was standing beneath bright light.

Her body rocked back and forth, her heart beating a thousand miles a minute. It felt like she was losing her mind, her thoughts kept conflicting with information and cutting themselves short as if they had a mind of their own, as if they weren't _her_ thoughts.

Pictures, _feelings_, kept coming back to her mind. The horrific demons that gnawed on her flesh, the feeling of the scalpel popping through her eye, the burning chains searing into her flesh. She tenderly touched her back, feeling nothing but soft, scar-less skin, not even a slight blemish.

She felt dirty, _wrong. _

It felt like millennia before her tears had dried, the water had gone cold, now it showered down on her cold as ice, she lay on the bottom of the cracked porcelain tub, curled in fetal position, numbly staring outward, not a thought passing through her mind.

Just blankness.

A knocking at the bathroom door caused the stoic girl to slowly rise, shutting off the water with shaking hands; a call from her mother came next, asking if she was alright. Sakura cleared her throat before trying to force a happy reply, saying she'd just lost track of time. Her mother seemed sated with her reply, as Sakura heard her retreating footsteps.

She leaned over the porcelain sink of her bathroom, staring blankly into the mirror.

The bandages covering the left side of her face were sagging with dampness, her marked arm was covered in pink splotches from her vigorous scrubbing, the skin beneath her visible eye was puffy and an angry red. Her collar bones were protruding and her ribs showed completely from beneath her colorless skin. Her once vibrant bubblegum hair was now a dark grey, clumped together and tangled, dripped water onto the cheap tiled floor.

She felt as though she were looking back at a different person. Slowly, she reached up, tugging down the bandages over her eye.

Time went slowly as she opened it, having to grip tighter onto the edge of the sink to keep herself from dropping to her knees in repulsion. What looked back at her was a deep, oceanic blue eye, a glowing white star centering where a pupil should have been.

She was right, she didn't look like herself, she didn't _feel_ like herself.

Who was she now?

Her stomach churned violently and she heaved heavily into the sink, realizing that there was nothing to vomit she wiped her mouth and slipped silently to the floor, hands covering her mismatched eyes in defeat. How could this have happened to her? Why her? She had never been anything special. She'd never showed any sort of promise.

What was her life going to become from here?

She choked back a sob as her thoughts drifted to her team, who hadn't crossed her mind in the chaos of past events. Could she ever go back to them? I mean, look at her! She looked like a monster. They probably wouldn't even recognize her anymore… Wait!- The Chunin exams? Had they passed? Did she miss them? How long had her body been gone from this world? Did anyone even notice…?

_First things first… _She calmed herself, trying to gather the last shred of sanity she had floating around in her mind, she shakily pulled herself up, her scrawny legs wobbling in protest. She had to at least dress herself and eat something, she'd make herself sick if she didn't and things would only become worse… if possible.

She grabbed one of the white towels from beneath the sink and dried her body off, making her way into her bedroom where she hastily found the bandages she usually used to wrap her chest and began winding them around her arm, covering the black marks that surrounded it, repeating the process with her leg and finally… her eye. She didn't care to find out what to wear and ended up in a long blue T-shirt that hung to her knees and a pair of loose black sweatpants, she finger-combed her hair as she made her way into the kitchen, looking to the cupboards for anything suitable to feed her mother and herself.

All she could find were a couple cans of soup and some instant ramen, seeing as there was almost no nutritional value in ramen, she heated up some soup on the stove and dumped it into two bowls, hurriedly slurping down her portion, she dumped the empty bowl into the sink and headed to her mothers room.

When she entered, she noticed her mother was sitting on the corner of her bed, flipping through an old photo album, not seeming to notice her daughter's entry to the room. Sakura felt awkward and cleared her throat to make sure her mother knew she was there; all she got in return was a small smile and a compliment on the soup.

Once her mother had her fill, Sakura awkwardly fiddled with her fingers, "How long?" She questioned, instantly regretting her wording, it didn't make any sense and sounded so rude toward her sickly mother.

"Almost a month… you came back three days ago… it's the twenty-seventh." Hana answered silently, her eyes cast upwards with a faraway look. Sakura nodded numbly, so she hadn't missed the exams, but what if she did? She didn't think she could face Naruto or Sasuke… not anymore. Besides, her tie with Ino meant she didn't really need to compete anyway, but maybe…

"I think I'm going to resign." Sakura spoke softly, looking down into her lap, her eyes soft and thoughtful as she contemplated all the horrible scenarios that played over and over in her mind. What made her want to become a ninja in the first place? Sasuke's affection? Her rivalry with Ino? Were those really worth giving up her life for?

"Sakura… are you sure? This was your dream, your fathers dream-"

"_I'm not my father_!" She screamed, unable to bite back the harsh tone in her voice, "I'm not- I'm not like him…" She said, her voice breaking as her face fell in her hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs; her mothers hand patted her back gently, rubbing soothing circles.

"It's your decision honey, I won't think any less of you." Hana whispered to her daughter, taking her child into her arms and cradling her to her chest as a mother would a smaller child, but somehow, she knew this is what Sakura needed right now.

…**.**

Sakura awoke beside her mother, light streaming in from the open blinds of her mother's bedroom, causing the silver-haired girl to squint slightly and shield her vulnerable eye. She easily slipped from her mothers head without a sound or movement, soundlessly leaving her mother's room and going to the kitchen, making a quick breakfast before heading to the bathroom to comb her hair and brush her teeth.

A weight felt lifted from her shoulders, she was going to resign after the Chunin exams, she would face Sasuke and Naruto, she would at least say goodbye and give her thanks to the two men who protected her the most. She could do that much.

She quickly dressed in a simple black T-shirt and three quarter grey trousers, tightening her bandages before making her way out of the front door, as warm sunlight touched her papery skin, as a cool breeze rustled her silver hair,

She smiled.

…

**SHORT CHAPTER, I KNOW. But hey, I'll have a new update by tomorrow so long as you guys keep asking for more. Leave me a review and tell me what you think so far, also, a good friend of mine made a cover photo for me, what do you think? **

**-Sail The Ocean**


	4. Gravity

_**Seduce Me**_

Hey guys! I read your reviews and wow you guys were really observant and cool, thanks so much! I was super happy to read them all, as I always do. If you take time out of your day to review I'll take time out of mine to read and enjoy them. Anyway, I know the last chapter was really short and kind of left you hanging, I noticed one of you were really confused by the way she was acting but you must remember that she just went through a mentally scarring experience and nobody could jump to their feet after something like that, y'know? Sorry the AU is so long on this one, just wanted to clear some stuff up and I've gone ahead in some of the chapters so I promise this story has a bunch of undertones that you'll only pick up on if you're paying mad attention and has tons of plot twists so just remember that everything isn't all it seems.

…

**Chapter Four; Gravity **

As the sun fanned over her cadaver pale face and the breeze tumbled through her short silver locks she felt something strange. The sunlight didn't feel calming and warm as it once did, as it touched her skin it was a crawling sensation, a teasing feeling, it stirred some kind of agitation in her. It felt like the sun was mocking her, pushing her away, telling her she was no longer a creature of sunlight. She tried to walk off the feeling, but as the light touched her bandaged skin, she walked a little bit faster, fists balled a little bit tighter. She lost aim of where she was going, her body moved on instinct, going for shade.

She ended up walking through a grassy forest on the edge of the village, little rays of sunlight shined through the cracks of leaves, but she felt at peace in the shady forest, the sound of a bubbling stream and slowly made her way closer, seduced by it's calming song. She began tugging away her clothing, her skin becoming more bare to the cool spring air as she stripped down, slipping with a sigh of relief as the water washed over her skin.

She lay floating in the water, feeling the smooth pebbles beneath her toes and the light tug of the current, it felt like gravity didn't exist, as the water touched her marked skin it soothed it with it's gentle touch. She felt at peace. The world around her just blended into a soft song, the birds chirping, the wind rustling the leaves, the hum of the stream. She could feel nature thriving around her, feel the cool current on her bare skin.

She didn't hear the footsteps around her, or the awkward gasp. "Er, miss? -this is such a drag- you know you're in the Nara forest, right?"

Sakura snapped to her senses at this point, clapping a hand over her eye she turned to see none other than the sleepy Shikamaru Nara turned away from her awkwardly covering his eyes as his cheeks flushed a deep crimson red. She couldn't help herself and reeled back, covering her prepubescent chest with a slight yelp. How the hell couldn't she hear him coming? And how had she managed to get all the way to the Nara forest? That was almost on the other side of the village, she must have wandered further into the woods than she thought she did.

"I'm sorry." Sakura said evenly. Her jade orb searching around the foliage for her clothing, "Could you throw me me clothes?" She questioned, ringing out her hair as she stepped out behind the Nara who awkwardly shielded his eyes as he searched the ground around his feet, nervously handing her her wadded up clothes. She almost snickered at the sight, it was so strange to see the usually lazy and easy-going genius stumble while doing things. It was actually a somewhat 'cute' sight had she not been naked.

"I haven't seen you since we graduated the Academy, how's Ino?" Sakura questioned as she wrapped her arm, leg and her eye tightly before tugging on her loose black shirt. She heard a little surprised 'eh?' from Shikamaru.

"We were in the Academy together? Weird, I don't remember you." He said, scratching his head in thought as he tried to remember the odd silver-haired girl, he thought she was just a civilian who had accidentally wandered into the forest, happens sometimes, whatever, but the markings on her skin were pretty strange for a civilian girl, no less one as young as she was, they looked around the same age, maybe a year or two apart.

Sakura felt her eyes widen a fraction, "It's… Sakura." She said slowly, calmly, she contemplated telling the Nara that she was somebody else, to avoid the heartache of trying to come up with an excuse for her odd appearance, but ruled it out, had to come out sometime anyway.

He whirled around, lucky after she'd tugged on the last of her clothing, looking at the silver-haired girl with shocked eyes, well, as shocked as Shikamaru Nara could manage. "Sakura Haruno?" He said with a puzzled tone, still eyeing the girl oddly, Sakura was beginning to feel uncomfortable. She pushed back her hair, unable to meet the eyes of her former classmate. She felt a heavy sensation of dread on her shoulders and contemplated running but that would only make her look like a crybaby as she used to be.

"You look… nice." He said slowly, Shikamaru was a genius, he could tell the girl looked uncomfortable, he could see that she clearly didn't want to talk about it. She was a pain and the bandages were weird, but she did look nice. He didn't really like the super flashy pink hair anyway. She looked alright. For a troublesome girl that is. Not his type, she was too pretty, pretty girls were a drag.

She was slightly taken aback from the compliment and a soft rosy blush touched her pale white cheeks, she awkwardly rubbed her arm, "Well, it's getting late. I should go…" She dragged on, not really wanting to talk any longer, she wanted to be alone today to have a little time to think to herself, or what was left of herself. She chewed nervously on the inside of her lip as the spiky haired boy nodded and rubbed the back of his head, seemingly returning to his usual lazy and relaxed self, "Guess so, see you at the exams." He said, giving a half wave goodbye as he slowly headed off toward some grassy hills for his favorite pastime, watching clouds.

Sakura watched him go, still feeling slightly uncomfortable from the strange encounter, it was so random and strange. It all happened in a matter of minutes. It was all just too odd, but she'd never known the Nara to be a huge talker and he probably had a lot to think about with the… exams coming up.

She really didn't plan to run into anyone today, she figured everyone would be out training and whatnot. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd see anyone else today, she'd have to pick up groceries and head to the Hokage tower, but other than that she'd probably just sit at home, she didn't feel like reading or anything in particular and with the constant paranoia that something was around the corner, she just wanted to go to sleep.

Scratching the top of her head she wondered how she'd ended up in this damn forest, she couldn't for the life of her find her way out, how big could the Nara forest possibly be? It felt like she was walking in circles. She cursed herself for not asking Shikamaru to escort her out, hadn't he ever heard of chivalry?

She rolled her eyes at how stupid she sounded. If she found her way in she could definitely find her way out. Channeling chakra into her soles, she made a leap for the tree branches, reaching decent height before snatching a grip on the slimmest branch she thought could hold her and hoisting herself up, she could at least get a decent look over some of the trees and where they broke off, good thing she picked a decently tall tree, she wasn't too far off.

A subtle thought rolled through her mind and she slowly reached for the bandaged half of her face, touching the spot over her eye with her fingertips. Perhaps she should at least test it out… see what the eye could do… a wave of curiosity, the same curiosity that got her into this mess, rolled over her in waves. She was stuck with it… she should at least know what it is.

She was fighting against herself, what if the consequences were dire? Shouldn't the punishment of her last curious adventure lead her against making such rash decisions? But it was a part of her body now, she _needed_ to know. Where was this curiosity coming from? Just hours ago the mere look of her demonic eye brought a sense of soul crushing pain over her body.

Her body began to move on her own, she was frozen within her own body, it was horrifying, it was like someone was forcing her hand toward her face, forcing her fingers to curl around the bandage and rip it away, she fought against it for a second, but that was all she could bear before she lost the war within herself that she wasn't even aware she was fighting in.

In the craziness and unrealistic events that just happened she missed the string of deep, raspy laughs that echoed through her mind and the distinct sound of some kind of symbolic door opening. Only the fear of what was happening to her body and the shock of power that rocketed through her, beneath the bandages the marks on her arm and leg glowed eerily with power, her beautiful evergreen orb flashed a terrifying demonic red for less than a second, before she began to see things, shaking with fear she looked down at her hands and gasped in fear, slipping from her perch in the tree and not having the proper thought process to catch herself, she was falling, she couldn't do anything but outstretch her hands in fear, bracing for impact and squeezing her eyes shut tightly.

A glowing white circle with a five point star and a series of latin words pulsed on the ground and a portion of Sakura's chakra was sucked into it, with a vibrating pulse a hand carved of rock shot from the ground, she hit the surface hard, but the extending rock cushioned her and she slid to the ground on her belly, once she saw this she looked down to her trembling hands once more.

She could see each individual chakra tunnel, see the bright blue energy force flowing through her. It was beautiful and horrifying at the same time. She knew she shouldn't be able to see this, especially at these levels, she wasn't a Hyuga, she didn't possess the Byakugan, she _shouldn't_ be seeing these things… she glanced upwards to the formation of stone before her, a large hand seemingly formed only from earth, open palmed, as if cradling something. Had she done that? How? The last thing she remembered was thinking about catching herself…

Curiously she touched the earth, anticipating another rock formation, yet nothing happened. She tried to think over and over what it could have been that had caused the odd jutsu, if it even was a jutsu, there was no lingering chakra, she didn't even use any hand seals… although she doubted she would need to after her experience in the scroll.

She wondered if there was anything she couldn't do with the limitless information that had been poured into her brain. She shook away the thoughts, what the hell was she thinking? This eye had nearly gotten her killed twice now!

"Kuso!" She cursed, fisting her fingers into her short, wavy silver locks. She couldn't handle any more oddities. She would give anything to have her old life back, pulling weeds with her team, fuck she'd rather stay utterly useless than the price she had to pay for this. She looked like she'd done something forbidden and she had. She used a forbidden scroll, is walking around with a demon eye for Kami's sake! Her small fists pounded angrily on the ground as frustrated tears built up in her eyes. She didn't want this. She knew some ninja that would kill for power like this but it wasn't what she wanted! Hell! She wasn't sure she even wanted to be a ninja anymore!

But could she just quit now? She looked helplessly down at her bandaged appendages, could she fit in with civilians anymore? Not only in looks, but mentality. In the Academy they didn't teach you basic academics, such as science and history, mathematics yes, but to a battle-based extent. The history they taught were of the first shinobi and science was limited to bombs, tear gas, poisons. Could she scrub floors for a living happily?

Would it matter?

She gathered herself and tried to choke back her cluttered thoughts, she needed to go grocery shopping, then she could make dinner, get her resignation papers and resign. That was the end to it. She wanted to end this day as soon as possible, sleep sounded amazing right now. Reality was drastically becoming less and less appealing to her.

She slowly made her way back to village, tripping over several roots on her shaky legs. She was beginning to hate all surprises and anything to do with a career as a shinobi _and _a civilian. Trying to calm herself down she took several deep breaths, noticing the sun was beginning to set, it seemed the nap she had taken earlier was longer than she had thought, or maybe it was the constant wondering in the woods and the little swim she'd taken earlier. Time seemed to be going by in rapid, confusing motions. Her world felt as though it were spiraling downward into a vortex, violently yanking her back and forth.

She headed toward the market, head lowered as she tried to avoid eye contact, the less people to talk to her the better. She didn't think she could handle one more person commenting on her appearance, not right now.

A foreign pang of anger flashed through her and unknown to her that beautiful evergreen orb, once again flashed an angry red.

…**..**

Hana Haruno was not a stupid woman. Her husband was a genius in battle strategy, but it was his wife that he sat up with late at night discussing his most recent skill. Yes, he took the advice of a civilian and he trusted it very well. So she was aware that when Sakura returned from wherever that damnable scroll had stole her that something incredibly wrong had happened to her precious daughter.

Her husband hadn't given her any information on what would happen if Sakura were to open the scroll, secretly Hana was hoping Sakura would never find it. She'd always known something was… off about that scroll, the way her husband regarded it was enough to confirm whatever suspicions she had that the scroll was something evil, not good. Hana felt cornered and scared, her daughter had returned with odd markings that made her stomach roll and continued to scream and thrash in her sleep (something she had 'forgotten' to tell her daughter).

She knew there was only one thing she could do and it was something her husband had forbidden her to ever do, but she felt backed against a wall, she had already lost her husband, she couldn't lose her precious child too.

She would have to contact Sakura's grandmother.

…**..**

Sakura wondered the wares stands aimlessly, buying random foods not exactly planning meals like she normally would, her thoughts were jumbled and messy, she couldn't process things anymore. This had been happening frequently. She didn't bother wondering why she was certain it had something to do with the scroll, thus she didn't dare think about it.

She was mindlessly examining a shiny red apple for bruises when someone tapped on her shoulder, it broke her from her mess of inner ramblings and caused her to jump, starting surprised at the young man who was now speaking to her, though she couldn't quite catch his words. A soft blush touched her cheeks at the handsome man before her. A boy of no older than eighteen with shoulder length deep crimson hair, like wine and light purple irises.

"May I help you look for something?" He questioned, setting down a large crate behind the fruit stand Sakura was currently standing at. She blushed once she realized this was probably the fifth time he'd asked her that. She rubbed the back of her head nervously, "Oh no, I'm just looking." She said sheepishly.

The boy offered her a small, almost invisible, smile. "The peaches are very good at this time of the year." He said, she then noticed how soft and polite his voice was, causing her blush to deepen. What was she doing fawning over a boy at a time like this?

"I'll take a dozen then please." She nodded politely, pulling the money from her pocket, the crimson haired man offered another small smile and shook his head, "On the house, please, enjoy." He said softly. Sakura, surprised by the boy's kindness, thanked him and offered a respectful bow before continuing on with her shopping.

…**..**

As the silver-haired Haruno made her way home, heavy bags troubling her, she couldn't stop thinking about what had happened earlier today, the stone hand jutting from the very earth and the sight of her very chakra tunnels. She couldn't stop her mind from wondering there. What she had done confused her, scared her. She hadn't intended to use a jutsu and some nagging feeling told her it had nothing to do with any kind of jutsu.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek she briefly wondered if it had been a fluke, a one-time chance. No, there's no flukes in this world. She was well aware of that. She breathed out an irritated sigh and once again adjusted the bags in her hands, she hadn't made it to the tower in time today, took too long shopping and wandering around. But what else had she expected? Her mind was a complete mess ever since she'd returned.

"Would you like some help?" A smooth, familiar voice came from the distance. Sakura turned just in time to see a head of deep crimson hair approaching her, familiar lilac colored eyes causing another small blush to touch her cheeks.

"Aaa, sure." She said dumbly, missing the amusement that flashed through the crimson haired boys eyes as she handed him a few of the bags that were causing her so much grief, letting out a relieved sigh, now that the fear of dropping and bruising her fruits and vegetables wasn't going along with her list of things she'd have to worry about. Like how she would support herself and her mother if she resigned… her eye traveled guiltily to the ground as she thought of how selfish she was being.

"You know… I hope I'm not being too forward, but if you're interested, I'd like some help at my stand." The boy she'd nearly forgotten spoke up, face blank as he stared forward, Sakura could feel the puzzled look on her face at his words.

She contemplated it in her mind a moment, would it be so bad? Living a normal life, coming home from work without the need to bandage her own wounds and drag her body into a bed to do it all over again the next day for a cause she wasn't sure she, nor anyone else, should fight for.

_Wait? Where the hell did that come from? _She thought, taken aback by the treasonous turn her thoughts had just taken. She'd been feeling so strange… why was she acting this way?

Perhaps she'd give it time… both the offer and her thoughts.

"I might enjoy that."


	5. The Push

**Teach Me Fear**

Oh my god the last chapter was messy and bounced around a lot. I'm so sorry guys, that certainly wasn't my best work. I'll try to make this one so much better. Thanks for the reviews, I decided to update as soon as possible because you guys seemed really concerned you'd wait forever for an update, so here you all go. Please leave a review and enjoy!

…

**Chapter Five; The Push**

_Claws and teeth, digging into her skin, gnawing on her, bony nubs crawling over her bare skin just before rows of disgusting yellowed teeth gnawed into her pale flesh. Shooting spikes of pain from her head to her toes, tears streamed from the corners of her eyes, dripping into her ears and making it hard to hear her own cries and the gnashing jaws of the hell creatures. _

"_P-please, please, s-stop." She cried helplessly, her eyes clenched tightly begging on deaf ears so she could open them and make it all go away, her hands shook as her body seized and shook as she went into shock. Vomit touched her lips and slid down the corner of her cheek as she gagged and choked on it, the stench burnt her nostrils but sent the creatures into a feeding frenzy, strange gurgled screams came from their lips as they ate with more vigor. _

_She prayed and prayed but nothing helped her from this hell, her shaking hands clenched into the sandy dirt beneath her. _

_Footsteps approached and Sakura opened her eyes weekly, a single hand was outstretched to her, yet she could not see the body shielded by the veil of shadows that surrounded this hellish world. She weakly reached for the hand, her fingertips nearly touching- she was almost there-_

"Gah!" She gasped, shooting upwards in bed, her chest heaving with heavy breaths, sweat dripped down her forehead as her tiny hands shakily searched over her aching body for bite wounds, she found none, yet was horrified to know that her skin felt raw, as if the wounds were real, yet invisible.

She looked at her marked arm with teary eyes, curling onto her side into fetal position, she felt as though she were holding herself together, keeping her insides from falling out. Kami why couldn't she just forget everything? Her hands glowed an eerie green and she shakily reached for her head, if her mind wouldn't let her forget- she would have to rely on her body-

"Sakura?" A voice broke through her concentration and she shot up, wiping the tears from her eyes and throwing the covers over her marked body just as her bedroom door cracked open. Her mother's messy head of blonde hair peeked in and Sakura let out a sigh of relief, "Hey mom, everything alright?" Sakura questioned, her voice slightly breathless and heart still beating out of tune.

The sleepy blonde haired woman nodded slowly with a low cough, "I just wanted to check on you honey." She smiled, giving her daughter a sleepy wave and turning to leave, shutting the door behind her. Sakura waited until she heard her mother's sloppy footsteps to disappear before releasing a heavy breath she'd been holding in.

Sakura threw the thin, sweat-soaked sheets from her tiny body and slowly crawled from bed, rubbing her arm in thought as she came to stand at the window, looking upwards at the bright, starry night sky with a set of mismatched eyes, slowly lowering herself to her knees to kneel at the windowsill.

_What if they find me?… _She thought, closing her eyes to bask in the moonlight, it felt cool on her skin, as if cradling her in it's silver veil, her short, wavy locks slid over her face, hiding her evergreen eye, making a menacing picture.

**They aren't looking anyway. **A secondary thought formed, one she could only recognize as her own, yet louder and full of fearsome anger. She clutched the sides of her head with a small gasp, shaking as her eyes watered. Was she going insane? Why would they even look? They didn't care, she didn't care, no one cares. No one can help her.

_I never asked for this… _

_I never wanted this… _Her thoughts repeated over and over as she rocked back and forth, hiding her face in her knees, trying desperately to gather what was left of her mind, it felt like they were drifting in and out of eachother, just at her fingertips, yet barely out of reach. Her fingernails dug into her ankles, leaving little crescent marks with beads of crimson.

_Should I go talk to them…? _

**They all hate you anyway. **

She fought against herself, it felt like every second she spent with herself she was left to fester on her own pain. More flashes, more memories of hell, more wounds just beneath her flesh forced her to choke back a sob.

She felt a crawling sensation on her ankles and her eyes widened, she stared at the shadows that seemed to be curling around her ankles, yanking her forward, she flipped onto her stomach in a horrified frenzy, clawing at the floor, breaking her fingernails apart in the process, her breaths came out more desperately as the shadows seemed to be constricting around her chest, choking her.

She cried out, tears rolling down her eyes, she felt helpless.

…**.**

Hana was woken up for the second time that night to her daughter's screams, this time more drastic, thuds were heard from her bedroom, Hana jumped to her feet, ignoring the instant dizziness that followed and shakily racing to her daughter's bedroom, throwing the door open and flickering on the light to see her young daughter kicking her feet at the air, as if fighting off some invisible foe.

"Sakura! Sakura are you alright?" Hana tried desperately to reach her daughter, kneeling beside her and cradling her in her arms, the girl never looked as small as she did right now, sobbing hysterically in her mother's arms, curled into fetal position, small hiccups escaping her lips as she clutched the front of her mother's night-shirt with shaking hands.

Hana decided at that moment that everything was not alright, that Sakura needed guidance, more than anyone but a Haruno could offer… She had no other choice. Hana stroked her daughter's silver hair, cooing sweet nothing's to the child in hopes of calming her down.

…**.**

Sakura lay facing the wall of her bedroom, she'd slept no more that night and refused to let her mother turn off the lights. Her hands were still shaking with fear as she tugged relentlessly on the hem of her oversized T-shirt, her bare legs against the sheets of her bed, the silky feeling soothing her fried nerves. Her thoughts were choppy and didn't make sense, her brain was swinging back and forth inside her skull with horrible possibilities of evil around every corner, in the face of every person.

Her mother came to talk to her twice, but Sakura couldn't find the willpower to speak, it was as if she'd forgotten how to form words, she couldn't do it. Her mind and her body were at war and her mind was losing to fear, her body to ignorance. She felt as though she were drifting through space, unable to speak or move, unable to think anymore. She could barely remember a time before this, the bad was now destroying the world.

The sun was just beginning to peek through the window and she lay staring, watching the sunlight touch everything in the village, except for her, it avoided her like the plague. She slowly raised her arm, covered in intricate patterns and symbols, examining it with lackluster consciousness.

_I tried so hard. _

**So hard. **

_To be something I'm not._

**be something I'm not…**

_Where am I? _

**Who are you?**

Her hand dropped limply to her side, hanging off the edge of the bed. The sheets were tangled around her feet and her silky legs were in clear view, her silver hair fanned out around her, her mismatched eyes lighting up the shadows of the room in a sense of rare beauty. She wondered if this is how Naruto felt, how Sasuke felt.

_Is this what it's like... to be haunted by memories? _

**Haunted by memories. **

She began moving, once again coming to stand at the windowsill, her porcelain fingers touching the shining glass, it's cool texture felt nice on her heated skin, she watched people below moving through the streets, children playing in the dirt roads of her village. Her face grew grim seeing their carefree smiles. She had been like that once, very recently in fact, happy, she had friends, she was blissfully ignorant to the true pains of the world. She- she liked it that way.

Is this how the world will always look to her know? A sobering and dark place full of ignorantly happy people.

Small droplets of tears hit the polished wood floors of her bedroom, yet her face did not contort into pain, she just stared with a sober, blank face. Her hand dragged over her face, rolling back her bangs with a small, forced breath. She looked down at her palm as it expecting something to appear there, when nothing happened she turned from the window, throwing the oversized shirt from her body and throwing on random items of clothing, carefully wrapping her arm and leg as she would have to learn to do every day now, but instead of wrapping half of her face like she normally did she searched through her medical kit, finding a white medical eyepatch. **(A/N; The rectangular ones, not the pirate-looking one's :P) **She figured this way it wouldn't look so drastic to other people now.

She ended up in a grey hoodie with a simple pocket in the front and two drawstrings and a pair of shorts, she slipped on sneakers instead of standard ninja sandals, leaving her headband on top of her dresser she escaped the crushing weight of her home, her delicate hands stuffed into her pockets, she walked aimlessly through the streets, head to the sky, hearing the laughter and chattering of other people. The static around her drowned out the static in her mind.

People examined the strange girl with silver hair with a mixture of awe and sadness. She looked lost, the faraway look in her eye kept people from approaching,

She looked as if she was only living halfway in their world.

…

Ino Yamanaka, heiress to the Yamanaka clan watered the flowers in front of her mother's flower shop with a troubled look in her baby blue eyes. She'd stop by Sakura's house four times in the past month, each time Sakura's mom told her that she wasn't home, but Ino purposely walked past her house on the way home from the training grounds each day this month and never even caught a glance of her.

It bothered Ino, she wasn't even sure why, her and Sakura hadn't been anything close to friends since they entered the Academy together… but that didn't mean Sakura had to go and hide from her.

The blonde sighed and touched her now short hair with a grimace, for some reason remembering their fight made her heart ache. It was too real, it felt too personal. Ino wished she could have gotten anyone else, even those freaky sand kids would have been better than fighting someone she used to care so much about… and maybe still cares for… a little.

She sighed and turned to enter the shop to water the rest of the flowers when someone bumped into her, spilling water from the jug onto the front of her apron, she whirled around to give the person a what-for for ruining her cute apron when her breath was stolen from her, "Sakura?" She whispered, looking at the girl, scratching her eyes.

It was Sakura… but… it wasn't at the same time.

The same green eyes, well… eye. But her hair, it wasn't bubblegum pink, it was like someone had sucked the color right out of it, Ino would have considered the fact that she could have dyed it but her eyebrows argued with that theory. She was paler than usual, if possible, and looked as if she'd shrank, she was thinner and her right leg was bandaged from her ankle to beneath her shorts as if she'd been badly burned. Ino felt breathless as she looked at the girl she had once known so well, at the patch covering her left eye and the lost look in her eye.

She moved on instinct, pulling the shorter girl into her arms and sucking in a short breath, Sakura stood awkwardly for a moment, not returning the embrace for a moment, her arms held outward in confusion until she finally went lax and fall into the , leaning her forehead against Ino's shoulder she closed her evergreen eye.

Ino felt as though Sakura were a porcelain doll, something that may break in her arms, she was confused and hurt and emotions were whirling in her mind. She'd never seen the usually headstrong and resilient girl like this, Ino used to secretly admire Sakura for the way she could light up a room… but now… now it was like she dimmed the lights a little in everyone's heart.

She looked like she'd been to hell and back and it killed even Ino to see. The world seemed to tick by minutes to seconds as they stood there, both not able to find the words to say. The clock on the front of the store played a song for them,

_Tick… Tick… Tick… Tick… _

It was like a ticking time bomb, Sakura counted the seconds up to a question that would never come. Ino may be daft, but she knew when to keep her mouth shut (surprisingly.)

"Ino, could you come inside?" Ino's mother called from inside the store, it seemed to snap the Yamanaka heiress out of her curiosity induced trance, pulling away from the silver-haired girl Ino looked down so that her baby blue eye's met with Sakura's green one, "Come back later, okay?" She said softly, hopefully, Sakura wordlessly nodded, unsure if she was being honest or just trying to end the aching she felt from Ino's presence.

As the Yamanaka disappeared Sakura watched her retreating back, her eyes lackluster and lifeless as she turned and continued her stroll through the village, finding herself back at the fruit stand from yesterday, looking at her reflection on the surface of the shiny red apples, cocking her head slightly, curiously.

She was cold, the wind began to toss harshly, she looked up at the sky as the grey clouds rolled in, so close to the hue of her hair, she reached up a hand, it almost felt like she could touch them, if she really wanted to.

A shadow fell over her head and she tilted her head back to feel deep crimson locks tickling her face, she looked up to the smiling face of the lilac eyed boy from yesterday, awkwardly she jumped back, their proximity bothering her. She didn't notice the slight frown on his face as she nervously skittered back, a small flush on her cheeks as the red headed boy released a huff of breath.

"So, have you decided to take me up on my offer?"

"_You've come to make a deal" _

She inwardly cringed, wondering why that sounded so alike to the sewn-together man's words, but choked it back, nervously rubbing the back of her head, her tongue felt dry, did she want to work here? Has she even come to a decision? Her life would have to be different now… but…

"Sure." She choked, the words just slipped past her lips, she didn't know if she even meant to say them.

His smile widened and for a second Sakura felt a small blush touch her cheeks, he was undeniably handsome, it was odd. She usually didn't act like this with anyone but…. Sasuke.

"Excellent." He smiled, handing her an apron, "Is today a good day to start?"

She numbly took the apron from his hand, feeling her skin brush against his, his hands were warm and soft, not calloused and shaky like a Shinobi's. It was… nice. She tried the apron around her waist and listened absentmindedly as he pointed to fruits and told her the pricing and little facts about the stand and the fruit that would be brought here and the times of day they were delivered.

She couldn't say she was processing any of the information, but she was definitely listening, his words stuck in her brain, but not in sentences or thoughts, just bits and pieces.

**Bits… and.. pieces.**

The words seemed to roll off his tongue and past his lips, sounding sticky and sweet, making her think of the bliss she'd once felt from life. As they stood behind the stand together, he watched her hand people their orders and she watched him smile and compliment or thank the customers, but they paid him no mind, some didn't even look at him.

Sakura curiously eyed him, his sad eyes and soft smile. She wanted to ask if he was okay, but bit it back, turning to stare at the sky as droplets of cold rain touched her cheeks, she closed her eye and let it fall on her, cooling her burning skin, perhaps she had a fever. Soon her head was shielded by a blue jacket that had been draped over her head.

She slowly looked to the crimson haired boy, with little raindrops dripping off the ends of his hair, when a thought suddenly struck her,

"Hey, what's your name?" She said, cocking her head slightly to the side.

His eyes widened a fraction for a moment and then his eyes seemed to soften as he looked at the somber silver-haired girl.

"My name is Nagato."


	6. Sandstorm

**Make Me**

Hey guys! Hope you're all doing alright. So here's where the action (a teeny tiny bit of it) kicks in. Sorry if it seems rushed I really don't remember much about the chunnin exams and I personally don't find it very interesting so I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please enjoy and leave a review, and a quick question for you guys; Is my writing style as chaotic to you guys as it seems like it is to me?

…**...**

**Chapter Six: Sandstorm**

Sakura lay in bed, watching the sun begin to peak just over the clouds. Little purple circles began to form beneath her mismatched eyes, a dull faraway look resting within the glistening orbs. Another restless night full of terrors unimaginable to most. Hell haunted her, she thought she'd escaped but in reality, she felt like she had one foot in hell and the other in this world. The sheets pooled around her hips as she restlessly sat up.

It was the day of the Chunnin exams, what would she do? Should she go and face Naruto and Sasuke? Ino had asked her to stop by the shop, but shouldn't she be there too? Did she already tell the others about her changes?

Her porcelain fingers curled into a fist, pulling up bundles of sheets as she sleepily eyed the shinobi headband resting on her dresser and the white apron on the floor. They looked so symbolic to her at the moment, she found it odd that she could find such meaning in mere objects. Kneeling forward she rubbed her aching temples, her eyes sagged with the want to close although she fought fiercely against it.

A sad smile touched her lips as she looked down to the orange T-shirt she was wearing, touching the soft fabrics lovingly. Naruto had given it to her during a mission when she'd forgotten her pajamas, she liked to sleep in it sometimes, it reminded her of her team.

_Should I go see them? _

**Go see them? Why?**

Her thoughts broke apart as a bird appeared in her windowsill it was a black raven, feathers shimmering with a bright blue hue, it cocked its head at the silver-haired girl with a curious look in it's shiny black eyes. She slowly neared, petting it's head affectionately. She smiled as the symbolic bird leaned in to her touch, cooing as the girl gently stroked its soft feathers.

She kneeled down beside the bird, examining the cautious look in its eyes, as if it would fly away at the first sign of danger. She looked deeply into it's soft eyes, hoping that all the answers would be found there.

Just then, a gust of wind frightened the bird and it leapt from it's perch, soaring away out of sight. The wind rustled Sakura's clothing and hair as she stared up at the bright blue sky, her hand outstretched for it, as if to stroke the fluffy clouds that resided there. They looked so close, yet so far out of reach.

She rolled away from the window, standing to walk for the bathroom just beside her bedroom, peeling her clothing as she went and closing the door behind her, she flipped on the light and looked into the mirror, frowning slightly as she was greeted with a stranger's face. She curled a finger in her shiny silver locks, closing her eyes at the silky feel of her hair.

She headed for the shower, flipping on the water and stepping into the porcelain tub, feeling the massaging thrum of it hitting her back, soothing her tired and aching muscles. She quickly washed her hair and body, the smell of scented oils making her shoulders relax and a small moan escape her lips.

…**.**

Ino Yamanaka slowly entered the stadium, looking at the crowds of civilians all gathered to watch the final part of the chunnin exams, her baby blue eyes searching for her teammates.

The crowds of screaming people were starting to make the usually loud blonde nervous, she searched through the teams of shinobi for her tubby teammate, or Shikamaru's spiked pineapple head, she began to feel awkward when she couldn't see either. Was she just standing there like an idiot?

"Hey! Hey Ino!"

Ino sighed noisily at the familiar sound of the biggest idiot in the village, Naruto Uzumaki! Kami if it wasn't embarrassing enough standing around like an idiot!

"Ino! Over here!"

Groaning she turned around, placing her hands on her hips to glare at Naruto who was standing around by himself, her sculpted eyebrow quirked for a moment, where was Sasuke? Where was… Sakura… her face dropped and she swallowed the lump in her throat. Seeing her yesterday frightened her… a chord was struck in her heart when she saw the broken look in the once fiery pinkett's eyes.

"What do you want?" Ino said, examining her perfectly filed nails with mild, lackluster interest, just trying to force her mind away from Sakura.

"You seen Teme or Sakura-Chan around?" Naruto said loudly, making Ino cringe, while scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Ino opened her mouth as if to respond, when a flash of silver caught her eye, her throat began to feel dry. Naruto seemed to notice her expression and turned to look in the direction she was, scrunching his sky blue eyes as if looking at a hard math problem.

Seconds later things seemed to click in the Uzumaki's mind, "Sakura-Chan? Is that you?" He coughed, his eyes almost bulging out of his head.

Sakura stood there in a pair of black shorts, her leg and arm covered completely in white bandages and a baby blue T-Shirt seemingly hanging off her skin. Ino swallowed back a gasp at how thin and small she looked. Wavy, silver tendrils hung just past her shoulders and she wore a medical patch over her eye and a sad look glimmering in her only visible emerald orb.

"Hey Naruto." She answered quietly, she looked uncomfortable, like she didn't even want to be here. Ino wished she would have specified a time for Sakura to stop by, she wanted to talk privately with the silver-haired girl. She looked so small and broken, Ino felt the urge to reach out to the girl and pull her into her arms, but restrained herself, watching from afar.

"What happened to you? Geez Sakura-Chan, are you okay?" The blonde exclaimed, looking over his teammate with frantic blue eyes, running circles around her.

"I had… a training accident." Sakura said, her voice just barely loud enough to hear as she looked uncomfortably to the ground. Naruto seemed to take a step back, panic in his eyes as he looked over Sakura's malnourished form and pale complexion, making the bags under her eyes even more dramatic.

"What happened, Sakura-Chan? Are you okay?" He whispered, stepping forward to wrap his arms around the girl when a loud chime echoed through the auditorium, signaling the first match to begin, it was Naruto Uzumaki vs. Neji Hyuga, Ino thanked that Sakura wasn't forced to speak because the pink tint to her eyes would soon turn to tears if Naruto would have pressed the matter.

Naruto looked from the stadium to Sakura, weighing what he should do until Sakura offered a small smile and motioned for him to get on with his match, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before nodding and giving Sakura a big foxy smile and thumbs-up as he leapt down the wall and into the arena.

Sakura slowly walked forward, leaning onto the edge and looking down as the Hyuga approached Naruto. Sakura remembered him as Hinata's older cousin. She'd seen them walking around the village once or twice but they'd never talked. He was supposedly rookie of the year and she was (admittedly) curious about his fighting style, the Hyuga mystical palm technique was always interesting to her.

**Why do you care? You're going to quit.**

_I don't know that yet…_

**Don't know yet.**

_Or do I?_

_**Do I?**_

Sakura's emerald orb focused on the arena, ears straining to hear what the Hyuga was saying, whatever it was it was making Naruto angry. She could practically feel the arrogance flowing off Neji in waves and her orb zeroed in on Hinata all the way on the other side of the stadium. Her silver eyes looked worried, for who Sakura wasn't sure but by the way Neji had beaten her in the last rounds of the chunnin exams she should've worried for Naruto.

Sakura however, wasn't that concerned when the two shinobi clashed, Naruto may look a little daft but Sakura was certain in his fighting abilities. When Naruto is determined to do something, he'll do whatever it takes. She noticed Ino coming up to stand beside her, the pinkette wondered why her senses were so keen lately, yet with her jumbled mind no one would seem to notice, even herself.

The world seemed to be focused on the fight between Naruto and Neji, Sakura's hands clenched tightly on the metal railing when his injuries worried her and her fingers itched with the need to go and heal her comrade. Naruto was fierce though and Sakura was swept away by his improvement, feeling a small, yet sincere smile touch her lips.

"He's really growing up, huh?" Sakura found herself sighing, watching with her glowing green orb as Naruto began to parry Neji's attacks with almost a stealthy precision she would have never expected from Naruto. His training must have been incredibly impressive for him to have improved his skill so much in only a short amount of time.

Ino was too awe stricken to respond, it was so weird for her to see Naruto doing anything, well- _useful. _She remembered when he couldn't even make a single shadow clone, now he was popping tons of clones like it was nothing! Her baby blue eyes were wide with amazement as she watched Naruto hold his own against the rookie of the year.

…**..**

As the battle came to a close, Sakura realized she had zoned out for the final bits of the match. Her mind had wandered to her raven-haired teammate and keeping on a smile to cheer on the one that was present. She could feel Ino's eyes wandering to her from time to time, as if she wanted to say something. She watched a smiling, battered Naruto nearing her and she couldn't stop herself from wrapping her frail arms around his shoulders.

His whiskered cheeks lit up a bright cheek and he tugged awkwardly on his collar once she'd released him, "Err… S-so, Sakura-Chan, where ya' think Teme went?" He coughed, his blue eyes looking everywhere but her, making the silver-haired girl chuckle silently.

"Hey guys."

Sakura turned her head to see Shikamaru standing with his teammate, Chouji. Shikamaru's brown eyes met with hers for a second, causing a small blush to touch his cheeks and she felt even herself blushing a bit remembering that he'd caught her swimming naked in the Nara forest.

"Where the heck have you guys been?!" Ino scolded, mad she'd had to sit through an awkward team seven moment and mad she walked around like an idiot looking for her team. Shikamaru sighed loudly and Chouji gulped at the mad tone in Ino's voice.

"Well, uh, you see." Chouji blushed, rubbing the back of his neck as he scrambled for an answer. Shikamaru seemingly uninterested in the situation stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned to Naruto, "hey, good job out there." he nodded in appreciation to the whiskered teen who gave a smug grin and comment per usual.

"So where's Sasuke?" Chouji asked with a mouth full of chips.

Sakura turned to Naruto for an answer and he simply shrugged, looking confused, "Dunno', Kakashi-Sensei hasn't shown up either, thought maybe he was late like always."

Everyone's head turned at the buzz of the contestant board, their eyes scanning the names with awe. There couldn't have been a more perfect match.

_Sasuke Uchiha vs. Sabaku no Gaara_

Ino frowned at the board, blonde eyebrows scrunched, "if Sasuke doesn't show up for the fight he'll be-"

The blonde was interrupted by a loud 'poof' followed by the trademark "Yo." of Kakashi Hatake. Beside him stood Sasuke, his clothing seemed to have changed from his usual khaki shorts and navy blue uchiha shirt to one-piece black fighting attire. Kakashi eyed Naruto's form curiously, "fight get rough?" He winked, or maybe he just blinked slowly, it was hard to tell.

"Pfft, no way! I took care of it." Naruto smirked, placing his hands on his hips and striking a goofy pose that made Sakura chuckle, arousing Kakashi's suspicious nature he turned to see a young silver-haired girl with one emerald eye and was hit with a weird deja vu feeling. Did he sleep with a green-eyed woman thirteen years ago? No way, he wasn't _that_ old. She looked so familiar…

"S-Sakura?" He stumbled, charcoal eye widening as he looked over the girl who actually seemed to narrow her eye for a fraction of a second at him before uncomfortably nodding at looking away, refusing to meet his eyes… eye. His visible eye narrowed in suspicion but he bit his tongue, now was not the time. Sasuke himself looked surprised at the absolute stranger that looked so similar to his teammate that now stood beside Naruto chatting lightly with the most sadstuck expression he'd ever seen.

"You'd better get going, Sasuke." The silver-haired girl noted, her voice was the exact same as Sakura's, yet the words sounded foreign out of the paled lips. he didn't allow the concern to show on his face, but he certainly felt it. He gave a half-nod and calmly made his way to the battle arena. Sakura watched him go, Naruto on her left and Ino to her right. This would once be a calming, happy situation for her.

But now all she could feel were the sidelong glances they were giving her. They wanted to know and she couldn't tell them. She knew she shouldn't have come today, her mother tried to convince her not to go, but she couldn't just not show up. Naruto was there for her when she was in the preliminaries and she could do as much as be there for him during his finals. It was only right.

She sighed as Gaara appeared before her teammate in a whirlwind of sand, a chord of fear struck in her abdomen as she saw the pure animosity in his seafoam green eyes as she sized up her teammate. The way he was looking at Sasuke bothered her, deeply.

Sakura's evergreen eye flashed a deep red for merely a second, going unnoticed to anyone present. Her pale hand clenched tightly around the rail as she watched the redhead sand shinobi's every move down to the slightest twitch in his lip. This wasn't like Naruto's fight with Neji, she didn't know if Sasuke could beat a man like this or if this would happen to kill her teammate. She was beginning to feel some kind of weird foreboding feeling, like something was breathing down her neck, something creeping up on her.

…

Sasuke was fast, his speed had become almost on par with Rock Lee during his training with Kakashi. The crowd watched in awe as the two competitors clashed their very diverse and powerful fighting styles, shows of incredible offense and defense. The sand that once fiercely guarded the redhead couldn't keep up.

Sasuke was landing blows on the once untouchable redhead, who seemed shocked at the simple possibility of this, oddly becoming sloppier and more hostile. Clearly not used to being the one getting damaged in battle.

Sasuke paused, holding tightly onto his left arm, seconds ticked by until the screech of a thousand chirping birds filled the room. Bright blue lightning seemed to dance in his palm, bringing an impressed twinkle to everyone's eyes as he charged for the redhead, ready to land a finishing blow and claim his title as Chunnin, to prove the true power of the Uchiha.

_**BAM!  
**_

Smoke filled the arena and time seemed to stop, Sasuke jumped back as the sound of a thousand bodies hitting the floor echoed through the stands, along with the harsh rumble of a falling stone wall. Gaara's chakra signature was fading and growing in size, his sharingan eyes narrowed as he weighed his options as to what he should do, his pride won out and he began chasing after the redhead, deeper into the smoke.

…**.**

Sakura was prepared for the smoke bomb when it was set off and managed to break from the powerful genjutsu that had taken out most of the civilians in the room. Shielding her mouth with her sleeve she scrunched her brows, trying to make out the shapes of anyone around her. She could sense most of the chakra signatures of Shinobi around her, everyone seemed to be alright and those affected by the genjutsu appeared to only be sleeping.

"Sakura! Over here!" Naruto called to her, she quickly sprinted toward him as he stood with most of the rookie nine and Kakashi, minus Shino and Sasuke. Sakura's eye glistened with suspicion and peered to the battle arena.

Both Sasuke and Gaara had disappeared.

Kakashi went through emergency drills, leaving team three to stay and wake the sleeping villagers and team five to evacuate everyone from the room. Kakashi touched his ear for a fraction of a second, his eyes widened and in response the building began to rumble.

His charcoal eye traveled to Sakura and Naruto, he chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before sighing and motioning for his team to come closer.

"You two are going to need to go after Sasuke…"

…**..**

Sakura followed behind Pakkun with Naruto as Shikamaru stayed a couple branches behind them. They were on the border of the village and currently looking for two genin (Sasuke and Shino) that had gone on pursuit of Gaara of the sand. Sakura's palms were sweaty with worry, hoping that Sasuke was alright.

"We're running in circles." Sakura growled, her emerald eye scanning the perimeter for the tenth time. She'd passed the same tree three times. Pakkun snorted with a nod of his wrinkled doggy face and Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head with a sigh.

"Come out." Shikamaru sighed.

All three were instantly alert when the sound of chuckling seemed to echo from all directions, the air seeming to wave and bend until they all appeared standing in the center of a clearing, a group of at least twelve oto-nin crouched in the branches around them, Naruto and Sakura pulled their kunai in preparation for a fight but Shikamaru sighed and jerked his head to the left with a pop.

"You guys get going and make sure Sasuke's alright. I'll take care of these guys."

Naruto gave him a half nod and Sakura hesitated for a moment, until a determined look swam through Naruto's eyes and she wished the Nara luck, kicking off the ground to follow Pakkun through the treetops as he sniffed out Sasuke's whereabouts.

They traveled with intense haste through the woods, both with nerves on end, the village was being torn apart by giant snakes and sand ninja and they were both missing a teammate. A heavy silence hung in the air, making Sakura's heart beat faster, she didn't expect this. She didn't have any of her tools other than Naruto's kunai and… no, she couldn't use that.

"I smell blood…" Pakkun said, quickening his pace, Sakura's heart felt like it would explode in her chest and she pushed harder against the thick branches, forcing herself to go faster and faster until it felt like her feet weren't even making contact with the bark anymore. Wherever Sasuke was, he was injured and in the woods with a rebellion going on.

Naruto was having trouble keeping up with Sakura's pace, but as battle carnage began to surround them, they both seemed to become nearly blurs, they didn't need Pakkun to lead them anymore, they could simply follow the broken trees and wreckage left behind.

A loud roar brought their fears to life, Sasuke beaten within an inch of his life by a racoon daemon with an armour made of sand. Sakura had never seen Sasuke look so weak, her body shook with fear as she leapt for her teammate, Naruto focused on Gaara for the time being, his body simply limp, hanging halfway out of the racoon beast's forehead, he looked so small and insignificant at this moment in the shadow of the horrifying beast seemingly consuming his body.

Sakura's mind went blank as she pressed a glowing green hand to Sasuke's chest, he kept mumbling something at her, but her head wouldn't process the words. She felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead.

She draped his arm over her shoulder, ignoring his protests and leaping forward, pacing him out of the line of danger. If only a little bit. Her kind evergreen eye met with his burning crimson for a matter of seconds and in that small meeting of the eyes, lay Sasuke's gratitude, even if he wouldn't voice it.

The shaking rumble of a battle between Naruto and the sand creature snapped Sakura back to the danger at hand, she looked down to the single kunai she had on her and then back to the immense creature towering over her.

Looking at her orange clad teammate and her injured Uchiha friend, she made a decision.

Ripping the patch from over her eye and leaping into the chaos of battle, she hoped for a miracle.


	7. True Identity

_**Educate Me**_

Hey guys. Hope you're all doing good, sadly the lovely autumn weather has left me with a really gross sinus infection. So yeah, bummer. Anyhow my desktop us up and running again, sorry for the grammatical errors I lack any help so I have to be careful and read over my work myself, stuff gets missed, I just hope it isn't TOO unbearable. So, I read over your guys reviews, thanks so much they were super cool and fun to read.  
Please enjoy and follow/leave a review!

This is a super short chapter, simply because the next chapter is going to explain a LOT of what'll go on here. But you need to play close, close attention. I left some small hints for you as to a small part of what's going on. The next chapter will be crazy long, I've been working on it for like two days now and I'm not even halfway through. Sigh, oh well.

…

**Chapter Seven; True Identity **

_The white patch flittered to the ground and an unseen pulse of energy vibrated through the air. Signaling the birthright of a Haruno. _

Sakura sucked in a breath, her mismatched eyes focused on the beast before her, looking down to her clenched fist with a steely look of determination. She knew then what she would have to do. "You gave me power once. Show me how to use it." She whispered, closing her eyes and searching her mind for the information gifted to her before.

A single clap echoed through the air as she brought her palms together before slapping them both over the dusty surface of the ground, a giant stone fist rocketing upwards from the earth and striking the beast, stumbling it. A fierce roar shook the air surrounding her and making her choke back a lump in her throat.

Flashes of scenes, techniques with no real information flashed through her head. She couldn't make sense of what she was doing, nor did she really know why it was working for her. Her body moved on instinct as if to compensate for the chaos of her breaking mind. Bright red and blue sparks of electricity danced on the ground as she slowly raised her hands, beneath her palm a staff of metal rose from the ground and she charged forward, attempting to strike at the sand armor, doing little to no damage.

Naruto had become useless the moment Sakura's eye had been revealed. The air was sucked from his lungs as he looked at Sakura, the same Sakura who needed saving only weeks ago, relentlessly strike at the beast. The speed she was using was incredible and her stamina had greatly increased. The look of her eye make him coil back though, it sucked away the awe and planted a calloused kind of suspicion that started Naruto himself.

He'd never particularly felt true anger toward his teammates, but the kinds of… jutsu? Sakura preformed began to strike him as wrong, as if he should stop her, but he was too awed by the immense difference in her. She used to tire so quickly, she used to get injured so badly. Now she was brushing it off as if she'd climbed mountains while she was away.

…**.**

Sakura was surprised that she wasn't short of breath yet, she felt fine and even the strike of the sand didn't hurt as much, if any at all. She wondered… she wondered if this had something to do… with the scroll. The stairs, the chains… the demons, did they… strengthen her in some way?

She flipped backwards, dodging a barrage of compressed sand which landed roughly in the ground below, hard enough to create small craters. She beast thrust down its paw towards Naruto, Sakura was moving in an instant, her palms slamming to the ground, a transmutation circle bursting with white light as the air filled with smoke.

The beasts paw struck two stone hands, beneath Naruto lay untouched, as if cradled lovingly in the mighty stone palms.

A stretch of earth jutted out, Sakura standing on the surface, staff in hand as she lunged for the sleeping Gaara, her breath uneven and slightly frightened, her eyes clenched shut tightly as the staff smacked against the sleeping redhead, just as a massive clump of sand constricted around her pale body, stealing the breath from her lungs, she gagged slightly as it tightened around her ribs, shaking with force, the beast was planning to crush her.

She lost consciousness the second smoke filled the clearing. She began falling to the ground; a blur of deep crimson hair was the last thing she saw.

…

Sasuke jumped beside his now silver-haired teammate, she stood with her hands limply at her sides and her arms hanging limply. He reached for her, as if to shake her out of the shock she appeared to be in, they needed to move, the giant frog Naruto had summoned was fighting it out with the giant sand beast and they needed to-

Sakura's form came alive with streaking lightning, dancing over her skin in glowing red and blue volts. He took a step back, shocked. Her head began rolling backwards. Her eyes wide, her evergreen eye flickering a deep blue, inside a secondary star formed and a flash of hot white light threw Sasuke back, he hit the surface of a tree, hard enough to knock him unconscious.

The bandages unraveled from her skin as the black markings rapidly crawled over her alabaster form. Her dark blue orbs scanned over her body, looking with a dazed curiosity at her colorful skin. A grin pulled tightly at the corner of her face, showing rows of shark-like teeth. The teeth of a demon.

A chuckle escaped her lips as she looked up at the giant beast, "Oh fuck, that's cute!" She laughed. She clapped her hands together, grinding them down into the ground, it shot from the earth, impaling the giant sand beast. Her laughter grew as it broke the strip of earth, the purple and yellow eyes of the monster falling on her. Even Gamabunta was pulled from battle to stare at the girl.

The ground beneath Sakura shot upwards, her standing on top of the intricate pillar, becoming at eye level with the five-story high beast. "Wanna' see a fucking miracle?!" She laughed, pressing her hand against the rough, heated surface of the sand, it started molding with the earth below and the creature was trapped. It howled frantically.

"It's science!" She howled between laughter, "Down to the very last atom of your molecular structure, I'll transmute you into the earth!" She grinned, eyes wide in a form of mania, "I am _god_!" She laughed.

The beast jerked more rapidly, Naruto watched his teammate in horror, what the fuck was happening, and he was terrified for what Sakura was doing. Was everyone going fucking crazy?! "Sakura-Chan! Snap out of it!" He growled. Gamabunta halted his assault to stare at the girl. He would be forced to tell Jariya of this.

"_**What are you**_?" The beast howled.

Sakura stopped for a moment, "Me? I'm the mirthful messiah, the last Alchemist!" She laughed, falling deeper into power crazed frenzy.


End file.
